America, like many alloys, is stronger than the individual metals from which it is comprised.

It helped that the immigrants were all too eager to leave the “crap” of their old lives behind themselves. Generally, that’s why they were leaving in the first place.

Bravo!. Very well put.

Unfortunately the problem is that there are some people who are just ugly, mean, nasty and ignorant, and they are proud they are that way. And those who oppose them are too often self-righteous and sanctimonious pious little snits.

Believe me, as someone who is bi-cultural, I can testify that all cultures have their good and bad points. And yes, some cultures ARE better than others. Really. Recognizing that is neither chauvinism nor making excuses for bad people.

One of the advantages of being bicultural is that you don’t have to feel guilty about seeing the bad in others, or smug about finding the good.

On the other hand, this is what Lee actually said:

“You better hope it is a life style choice or behaviour disorder. If it’s ever shown to be genetically based and a test is devised to detect it, you really will be thinking eugenics. Most people will consider it an abnormality and elect for an abortion as they do for dwarfism or down syndrome.”

I’m not seeing State-mandated eugenics there, and the point I was trying to make was that you were tossing “Nazi” around a little freely, and showing that a lot of people had similar views on individually-chosen abortions for eugenic reasons.

There are a lot of Lee’s statements I disagree with. Some strongly. But there’s a wide gap between someone who doesn’t like minorities and a Nazi. A wider one, in my opinion, than there is between a Marxist and some people in our country who are pretty well respected. But I like to think I can address individual issues objectively, and Lee said nothing in this thread implying a desire for State action to wipe out any group through forced abortion or any other method. I addressed the issue in the same context – people choosing to abort infants because they aren’t “perfect.” With the idea of “perfect” being a rather flexible concept.

And if you listen to most of the people who do support ideas like forced sterilization and government-mandated population limits, you might be surprised at their political affiliations. For a good time, look up Margaret Sanger, who founded Planned Parenthood.

There’s a fundamental and I would have thought pretty obvious difference between the people mentioned in the article and our resident neo-Nazi. But, since it hasn’t been graphed…

The former are families, couples and individuals who are making deeply personal decisions that will have a profound emotional effect on themselves, their families, friends and loved ones–but which ultimately affects only a small group of people.

Our neo-Nazi, on the other hand, is yearning for a society where abortion is an instrument of policy and politics, where all that is Not Right (by his definition, of course) is cut away from the rest of the body. People like this, you give them an inch and they take a life. If he were to get his way, we’d see all our old psychotic friends again: forced sterilization, internment, and eventually murder. Or do you think we’re immune, or that our Nazis are the good kind?

Look at all the groups the neo-Nazi rails against…gays, the mentally and physically handicapped, blacks (remember his comment “our shit-stain of a President? I do.) The neo-Nazi wants to remake society. It’s the ultimate social engineering nightmare, and there you are, tagging along. You make your brave stand against a liberal who wants to take away your lightbulbs, but you’re ok with the guy who wants to start disappearing the people he doesn’t like. (I wonder if he’ll ever take a dislike to you or someone in your family?)

I can hear your attempted counter-argument: “It’s ok for one child to be aborted, but not for a thousand, or a million, huh?” Again with the re-framing…and the quantifying! Why don’t you answer the question yourself: how many murders are there every year in the US? (Just FYI, Census Bureau says 16,929 in 2007.) If the government murdered that many people annually, you’d have long ago marched on Washington with your pitchfork and your torch, but since those murders are perpetrated by individuals, they’re considered part of the price of a free society. Think about it in terms of the present discussion. You apparently have no problems with individuals doing something that would outrage you if the state were involved.

TB, you’re also the one who brought up patterns in history, but you stubbornly refuse to place the neo-Nazi at his rightful place in the only pattern where he truly fits…and fit he does, as snugly as a foot in a jackboot. Sure, I know why you cut him slack…he’s useful, for so many reasons. You can count on him to make you look reasonable, for instance. And as you’ve said before, anyone who pisses off a liberal is ok in your book. Isn’t it ironic, though, that you and an anti-homosexual crusader turn out to be such happy bedfellows?

“While some may see this as progress, others recognize that eliminating people with disabilities inevitably destroys the rich fabric of diversity that currently makes up our society.”

She would condemn people to living in broken bodies and minds all for her sense of diversity? That’s sick. From the sound of it, she would also oppose any cure that was found for such condtitions on the grounds that it harms “diversity”. I don’t know what to say about this woman. I’m at a loss for words.

Personally, I believe that in spite of the way we all use the terminology, anyone who brands themselves a liberal or conservative, is seeing a reflection of John Wayne or Billy Crystal when they look in the mirror.