Fun_People Archive
6 Nov
21 Rules revisited

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Mon,  6 Nov 100 18:10:57 -0800
To: Fun_People
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Subject: 21 Rules revisited

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From: Eric <ecscc@olywa.net>

I forwarded an e-mail, sent on to me by someone I know in Texas, about
21 rules for being a good Republican.

This e-mail has generated some rather intense responses.  For those of
you I may have offended I can only say that it was inadvertent and I
apologize.  Living in Washington, which has been hotly contested, as the
news folk say, has made it inescapably clear that nobody is telling the
whole truth.  How many campaign ads can directly contradict each other
without causing one to believe that the elusive 'truth' is someplace
other than where either candidate would like you to believe?  So, the 21
rules seemed pretty laid back, compared to some of the things that I
have been exposed to.  Specifically, we received a mailing suggesting
that Brian Baird, running for re-election down here in Washington, does
not think that child sexual abuse is harmful.   There are no direct ref-
ernces to anything he has said or done, just the basis of a vote.  And
nobody apparently asked him that question directly.  They just wanted to
articulate a position.

I started out my political life as a Republican.  This was back in New
York State to be sure where things have always been a little strange.  I
started out working for people like Nelson Rockefeller.  And I believed
that politics was about people making choices.  Even if peoples choices
occasionally were pretty mysterious to me.   21 Rules  seems to me to be
cranky about some things.  The intensity of some of the responses to 21
Rules is fascinating to me.  I believe that this country can survive if
Bush or Gore are elected president.  I suspect it could even survive
Ralph Nader.  I am not sure about Jesse Ventura.   I think we are in far
more trouble as a country if we are to lose sight of the fact that we
are a contradictory and complex nation with a great many ideas, views
and beliefs.   If we lose the willingness and or capacity to view other
people on the basis of their behavior -- more specifically, of how they
treat other people --  rather than on the basis of their political
positions, I believe we will then have crossed a line from which we may
not be able to recover.   I think there is far more good than bad about
this country and that  it should go on as long as possible in this
form.   However complex and annoying that form may be at given times to
some of us.  I am sure that there are 21 Rules for Democrats out there
that are just as contradictory and problematic.  I think it is of major
importance that we remember that we are all human and a bit crazy and/or
flawed.  Kindness and compassion is partly what this election was
supposed to be about.  I think perhaps we have lost sight of that one
way or another.

Again, if you received 21 Rules and were offended by it, my apologies.
Don't forget to vote.

-- Eric Steese.  [In the belief that all political statements should have  
somebody's signature on them.]


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[But, if you didn't receive 21 Rules (I didn't forward them when they first  
came around) and now you're curious; well, here they are...  If this will  
upset you, then don't read it.  And if you have a copy of "21 Rules For Being  
A Good Democrat" I'd be interested in seeing them.  -psl]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Forwarded-by: Eric <ecscc@olywa.net>

	21 Rules For Being A Good Republican

1) You have to believe that the nation's current 8-year prosperity was due
to the work of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, but that yesterday's gas
prices are all Clinton's fault.

2) You have to believe that those privileged from birth achieve success
all on their own.

3) You have to be against government programs, but expect Social Security
checks on time.

4) You have to believe that government should stay out of people's lives,
yet you want government to regulate only opposite-gender marriages and what
your official language should be.

5) You have to believe that pollution is ok, so long as it makes a profit.

6) You have to believe in prayer in schools, as long as you don't pray to
Allah or Buddha.

7) You have to believe that only your own teenagers are still virgins.

8) You have to believe that a woman cannot be trusted with decisions about
her own body, but that large multi-national corporations should have no
regulation or interference whatsoever.

9) You love Jesus and Jesus loves you and, by the way, Jesus shares your
hatred of AIDS victims, homosexuals, and President Clinton.

10)  You have to believe that society is color-blind and growing up black
in America doesn't diminish your opportunities, but you still won't vote
for Alan Keyes.

11)  You have to believe that it was wise to allow Ken Starr to spend $50
million dollars to attack Clinton because no other U.S. presidents have
ever been unfaithful to their wives.

12)  You have to believe that a waiting period for purchasing a handgun is
bad because quick access to a new firearm is an important concern for all
Americans.

13)  You have to believe it is wise to keep condoms out of schools, because
we all know if teenagers don't have condoms they won't have sex.

14)  You have to believe that the ACLU is bad because they defend the
Constitution, while the NRA is good because they defend the Constitution.

15)  You have to believe that socialism hasn't worked anywhere, and that
Europe doesn't exist.

16)  You have to believe the AIDS virus is not important enough to deserve
federal funding proportionate to the resulting death rate and that the
public doesn't need to be educated about it, because if we just ignore it,
it will go away.

17)  You have to believe that biology teachers are corrupting the morals
of 6th graders if they teach them the basics of human sexuality, but the
Bible, which is full of sex and violence, is good reading.

18)  You have to believe that Chinese communist missiles have killed more
Americans than handguns, alcohol, and tobacco.

19)  You have to believe that even though governments have supported the
arts for 5000 years and that most of the great works of Renaissance art
were paid for by governments, our government should shun any such support.
After all, the rich can afford to buy their own and the poor don't need
any.

20)  You have to believe that the lumber from the last one percent of old
growth U.S. forests is well worth the destruction of those forests and the
extinction of the several species of plants and animals therein.

21)  You have to believe that we should forgive and pray for Newt Gingrich,
Henry Hyde, and Bob Livingston for their marital infidelities, but that
that bastard Clinton should be impeached.

© 2000 Peter Langston