Posts by Greenpalmtreestillmine

24

Political Party Loyalty

by Greenpalmtreestillmine in

i am very new to the political process and this year will be the first time i enter a voting booth, but something has been on my mind of late and i hope you all can help me sort it out.. if george bush had been a democrat and from day one of his presidency had done everything exactly as he has done would most of the republicans be supporting the war in iraq?

would most of the democrats still be against the war?.

or would each party fall in line with most republicans against the war and most democrats for the war?.

Greenpalmtreestillmine

So when it comes to national security issues, you'd prefer all the detailed facts with regard to Sadaam/Osama/terrorist networks, be put forth the to public, so that THEY can review everything and make a decision by popular vote???

No, that is not what I said. I was replying to the proposition made by another poster that governments when going to war have secret information and the public should trust their judgement because of that. Perhaps you feel the pubic was wrong to protest the Vietnam war because the government had secret information which supported the importance or validity of that war?

Please do not put words in my mouth, only a complete fool would think the government should share all its intelligence with the public. But at the same time the public has a right to ask for solid reasons and evidence for going to war and has a right to the truth because it is the children of the ordinary American that will die in war not President's Bush's or Vice President Cheney's.

I am an Independent and I wish that President Bush had reached out to more Americans instead of primarily to his political base. If he had and if he had persued a more vigorous war against terrorism than he has, I would have voted for him. I am not all that happy with Kerry either but President Bush has soured in the mouths of many and I'm one of them.

Sabrina

24

Political Party Loyalty

by Greenpalmtreestillmine in

i am very new to the political process and this year will be the first time i enter a voting booth, but something has been on my mind of late and i hope you all can help me sort it out.. if george bush had been a democrat and from day one of his presidency had done everything exactly as he has done would most of the republicans be supporting the war in iraq?

would most of the democrats still be against the war?.

or would each party fall in line with most republicans against the war and most democrats for the war?.

Greenpalmtreestillmine

Love_Truth,

Far too often, I see US citizens and foreigners criticizing the Administration's decisions, especially those involving war or national security issues. They clearly are ignoring the fact that they don't have the same facts the President and Chiefs of Staff have- those facts which must be kept secret due to national security.

I admit I am a political novice but I believe when an American Administration goes to war and has kept things from the public it is more likely to be things which if known would cause the public to disagree with their politicians rather than the other way around. As for the present situation, I believe President Bush and his Administration have told us just about everything that they feel would back up their reason to go to war in Iraq so I don't really think they are keeping some secret intelligence out of the public view with regard to that.

Many people did trust them and did believe what they said, I was one of them. I watched Colin Powell speaking to the United Nations and showing those satellite pictures of trucks being moved around in Iraq which were supposed to be proof that Iraq was hiding something from the inspectors. But what I found curious is that before and during the war those same satellites should have shown the Iraqis moving their WMD out of the country or into position to attack the American troops but they didn't because if they had President Bush would have shown those pictures to the world.

If I sound stupid or ignorant please understand that's because when it comes to politics I am stupid and ignorant. But as I have learned from my Watchtower experience, trust is earned not a given. I'm afraid the Bush Administration has done little to earn my trust.

Sabrina

15

Hostility or Violence during Field Service

by richard in

jw
friends

.

when you were active jws, did you meet with hostility or violence as a result of your field service?

Greenpalmtreestillmine

A man once tried to force an elderly Witness at his door to salute the flag in his driveway. He backed off when a car full of Witnesses drove up.

Sabrina

38

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 3-21-04 WT Study

by blondie in

comments you will not hear at the 3-21-04 wt study

review comments will be in black and parentheses ().

1 corinthians 7:29 (nwt) moreover, this i say, brothers, the time left is reduced.

Greenpalmtreestillmine

Blondie,

Thank you so much for that Watchtower summation. In light of the recent U.N. problems the Watchtower is having I found this quote from your post very interesting.

w97 9/15 p. 19 Who Will Survive "the Day of Jehovah"? ***
The ten horns" depict the militarized political powers holding sway on earth. Though they now have a spiritually adulterous relationship with Babylon the Great, her time is short. This world?s political element will destroy false religion, and "the wild beast"?the United Nations?will have a principal role with "the ten horns" in devastating her. What an occasion for praising Jehovah!?Revelation 19:1-6.

The Watchtower in 1997 was maligning the U.N. (calling it "the wild beast") while at the same time printing articles somewhat favorable of the U.N. in order to keep their NGO status.

If the U.N. had known about this duplicity would they have taken some action, legal or otherwise, against the Watchtower? Maybe so.

Sabrina

96

My Dad died a few hours ago

by BONEZZ in

jw
friends

excuse me if i ramble...this is hard.

i have even avoided threads in the past where others have had to go thru this because i didn't want to face it.

guess i'm a wuss.

Greenpalmtreestillmine

I am very sorry to hear about your Dad. I will be thinking of you and your family the whole day.

Sabrina

66

Passing the time at JW Assemblies

by Leolaia in

jw
friends

love_truth, in describing the utter dullness of jw assemblies and conventions, just gave me an interesting idea for a thread.

what were some of the ways you tried to make the hours pass?

some of mine: looking at the interesting refracting patterns the arena floodlights made on my eyeglasses when looking thru them at an angle.looking for people i knew from my congregation and others in the mass of people in the arena.counting the number of people leaving the section to go to the bathroompractice writing people's names in elvish scripthaving a conversation with friends a row behind me by passing notes back and forthseeing how many pages of my bible stick together when i slam a wad of gum in between its pages.. what else?

Greenpalmtreestillmine

When I was young it was easy to pass the time by volunteering. When my circumstances changed and I could no longer volunteer then the fight to stay awake in the afternoon was fought with chewing on mints (not gum of course that was not allowed ), looking for people I knew, taking notes to avoid nodding off and clapping! Yes, a good clap every now and then helps to keep the blood going while sitting in those uncomfortable assembly chairs.

Sabrina

6

Posting pic again since I finally figured it out but its about 4 pages back

by copsec in

jw
friends

i have seen everyone else who posted but finally figured this out this morning!

Greenpalmtreestillmine

Beautiful picture, Copsec. Your's too Orangefatcat.

Sabrina

24

Political Party Loyalty

by Greenpalmtreestillmine in

i am very new to the political process and this year will be the first time i enter a voting booth, but something has been on my mind of late and i hope you all can help me sort it out.. if george bush had been a democrat and from day one of his presidency had done everything exactly as he has done would most of the republicans be supporting the war in iraq?

would most of the democrats still be against the war?.

or would each party fall in line with most republicans against the war and most democrats for the war?.

Greenpalmtreestillmine

Green,
Just vote for who you think is the best candidate, even if its a third party or independant. Much better feeling then the Republicratand the Demobilcan machines.

Thank you.

Sabrina

8

So what would you do?

by Satans little helper in

we've managed to get very heated about the iraq debacle but noone on either side of the debate has come up with a sensible alternative to the mess bush has made.

so what would you have done if post 911 you were president?

i would have invaded afghanistan and destroyed the taliban, have got pakistan onside from day one and ensured that their borders were not porous and would have stayed in afghanistan until the job was done rather than the poor job done so far.

Greenpalmtreestillmine

I would have taken care of Afghanistan, making sure it had a stable government and ridding it of the Taliban and Osama.

I would have asked the American people to buckle up and be prepared for sacrifices, both physical and monetary. I would have told the Saudi Government to clean house because we will not deal with any government that harbors or finances terrorists, the same with Egypt, Syria and so on.

I would require that American Corporations show some loyalty to their country and not just to their wallet.

I would have imposed or asked for a national boycott of all products made in countries that harbor or aid terrorists. I would have recalled our ambassadors and envoys to all countries which harbor or aid terrorists. I would instructed our Navy and Air Force to be prepared to bomb all terrorist camps no matter where they are located. I would have warned the people of those countries to be prepared to be bombed if your government harbors or aids terrorists.

I would have closed the Canadian and Mexican borders until they are able to be made safe. I would require all commercial enterprises to inspect their own merchandise coming into the country otherwise they would be unable to bring their merchandise in. I would hold airlines responsible for making sure their passengers and luggage are properly inspected otherwise their license to fly into or in this country will be revoked.

I would have asked the World Council of Churches to become involved in a solution. I would publicly be asking prominant Muslim clerics if they approve of the actions of Osama.

I would publicly ask Congress to leave their partisan politics behind and act for the good of the country.

I would be asking for a major build up of the military. I would stop all sales of military hardware to any country which I even suspected of dealing with or trading with countries that harbored or aided terrorists.

The list could go on but of course I am not committed or connected to big business, big government, and big liars so it's easy for me to say this.

Sabrina

24

Political Party Loyalty

by Greenpalmtreestillmine in

i am very new to the political process and this year will be the first time i enter a voting booth, but something has been on my mind of late and i hope you all can help me sort it out.. if george bush had been a democrat and from day one of his presidency had done everything exactly as he has done would most of the republicans be supporting the war in iraq?

would most of the democrats still be against the war?.

or would each party fall in line with most republicans against the war and most democrats for the war?.

Greenpalmtreestillmine

Pork Chop,

I beginning to no longer feel that the politicians are the problem. So many Americans decry their politicians but in the end they get who they themselves put there. I'm afraid I am becoming cynical and discouraged even before I cast my first vote.

Sabrina