The Ballot or the Bullet

[Mikhael Nadyezhda Kirsanov]

This is the new thread, brought to you by Malcom X.

[Aleksandra Odinsova]

I have a fun time shopping and go home with all my bags to try on my new clothes. I think that a person shouldn't wear the same outfit twice.

I put on a fuzzy pink jacket and decide to go for a walk in the park with my pet poodle. I just feel like I have to keep moving.

If I keep shopping and moving, everything will be fine.

[dariya]

I spot Heikki scoping out the building as well.

"I guess I decided to show up."

[Heikki Toivonen]

"Tomorrow it will all change. The Germans will be acting soon as well." Heikki replies. He is surprised to see her, but does not express this. He remains indifferent and distant.

[dariya]

"What will change? They'll elect leaders. Nothing ever changes."

[Heikki Toivonen]

"It will set things in motion."

[dariya]

"My, aren't you the idealistic one. So much faith. Where does all that hope come from?"

[Heikki Toivonen]

"I don't want to talk to you. Everything is already set up. I don't see why you bothered to come here. Just leave me alone." Heikki replies. He hates when she implies he has a faith or that he is no different than everyone else. He refuses to listen to it and walks away. Tomorrow will be the moment of truth or..in his case lack thereof.

[dariya]

I feel a sense of accomplishment when I drive him away. I laugh at him as he leaves, then decide to take a tour of the Hermitage.

[Matro San Miguel]

Is the Democratic Party Becoming More Pro-Life?
By David Brody
Congressional Correspondent



CBN.com – CAPITOL HILL - It seems that ever since the Republican gains back on Election Day, Democrats have started to talk about abortion in a different way, possibly softening their stance a little. Is the Democratic Party rethinking its strategy and embracing a more pro-life position?

On Capitol Hill, there is no shortage of liberal Democrats. And for that matter, there are plenty of conservative Republicans here too. But when do you ever see a pro-life Democrat? You can search for a while around here before bumping into one. If the pro-life Democrat were an animal, it might be added to the endangered species list, along with giant pandas and bald eagles.

It was not always this way. Twenty-five years ago, in 1979, out of the 292 Democrats at the time, 125 were pro-life. That is 43 percent, and the Democrats were the majority party. Today, out of 203 Democrats, just 28 are pro-life. That is 13 percent, and the Democrats are no longer the party in control.

Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, a pro-life Democrat, says it is hard to argue with the numbers. He said, "I think you're right. Absolutely you're right. Pro-life Democrats are not as numerous as they were, and that could very well be why Democrats are not as numerous as they were."

There are a lot of theories as to why the Democrats have embraced a pro-abortion position.

Some people point to the 1960s, when feminism took hold and those women joined the Democratic Party in droves. And then, a decade later came Ronald Reagan. The so-called 'Reagan Democrats', many of them Catholics, left the Democratic Party when the Democrats embraced the ‘pro-choice’ position.

Fast forward to 2004. Democrats lost seats in the House, Senate and, of course, the presidency. The polls indicated that values and faith played a major role. Surveys also show that when it comes to abortion, 65 percent favor a ban on partial-birth abortion and 86 percent favor parental consent for minors seeking abortions. Put it all together, and clearly the Democrats have work to do.

So Rep. Clyburn has been put in charge of the Democrats’ faith agenda, an effort by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the House's top Democrat, to reach out and connect with voters on the values issue.

Rep. Clyburn says that on abortion, the party must break through with voters.

"In the coming days,” Clyburn said, “you're going to see more Pro-life Democrats coming forward as candidates, and you'll see them get support from Democrats."

The Democrats say the rhetoric is already changing. They point to how the Democrat’s leader in the Senate, Harry Reid (D-NV), is pro-life. And they say it was Senator Reid and Rep. Pelosi who both backed the pro-life Tim Roemer in his bid to become chairman of the Democratic Party.

Then came the comments from Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY). She shocked pro-abortion advocates in Albany when she said, "I, for one respect those who believe with all their heart and conscience that there are no circumstances under which abortion should be available. We can all recognize that abortion in many ways represents a sad, even tragic choice to many, many women."

It is not just Hillary speaking out.

Howard Dean, the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee told Tim Russert on Meet the Press, "I have long believed that we ought to make a home for pro-life Democrats. The Democrats, who are pro-life, are people who are the kind of pro-life people that we ought to have deep respect for."

All of this has pro-life Sen. Jeff Sessions(R-AL) hoping for a real change of heart. He said, "We ought to salute any positive comments we get from people who've opposed these values in the past, and continue to press, and who knows what can be changed in the next five years."

Craig Richardson with the Catholic Action Network says the Democrats are not dumb. They see how they are losing elections, so a new approach is needed.

Richardson said, "Every year they continue to lose and lose and lose, and they say one of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result."

This new talk has many Republicans on Capitol Hill skeptical. They say it is one thing to talk more pro-life, it is quite another to actually vote for a pro-life bill. And there are two big ones that are coming the Democrats’ way.

One of them is called the Fetal Pain Bill. It says if a woman wants an abortion after 20 weeks, she must be informed of the pain the child will experience. The other one deals with parental notification, where it would be a crime for someone to transport a minor across state lines to a state that does not require a parent to be notified of their teenager’s abortion.

So, for all the new rhetoric coming from Democrats, will that translate into votes for these bills?

Senator Sessions remarked, "Maybe this past election, and this talk that's going on within the democratic leadership that realizes that they're drifting so far from mainstream America that they need to get back - we might see some votes change on this issue."

Nobody is banking on that quite yet. That is because the Democrats know where the money comes from. They need to be careful that they do not upset the donor base. Look at NARAL Pro-Choice America. In the 2004 election, 97 percent of their political contribution money went to pro-choice Democrats.

Richardson commented, “Money, as they say, is the lifeblood of the political system. When you start giving out money to people, and over time, suddenly that becomes who you are as a party."

At the same time, Democratic strategists admit that part of the problem for the party is that they are identified as the abortion party.

A Zogby poll taken last year shows that 68 percent of Republicans think that abortion destroys a human life and is manslaughter. But 43 percent of Democrats also agreed with that statement.

So, even though the Democratic Party's allegiance to the pro-choice groups helps them in the pocketbook, it may not be helping them to win over voters. And so, embracing and encouraging more pro-life Democrats to come forward could really help Democrats at the ballot box.

When asked if perhaps the pro-life Democrat is making a reappearance in the Democratic Party now to win more elections, Rep. Clyburn replied, “No, I think they're making an appearance because they feel more and more comfortable now."

Whatever the reason, Sen. Sessions says that the Democrats know they cannot fight the truth, and the truth is on the pro-life side.

Sen. Sessions said, "I think science, technology, being able to have children born at earlier and earlier ages and still survive and become healthy adults, I think that's a big part of what's happening."

The real answer to all of this may not be known for some time. If Democrats do soften their language and start voting for pro-life bills, then we may start to get an answer when midterm elections come up in Congress in 2xxx

[Dinari Dollar]

...it is a question of mercy! We need to have mercy! This poor woman is being starved to death. If I did that to a dog I would be arrested. This is a human being in a wealthy nation and she is starving. It is unheard of. We NEED to have that feeding tube reinserted..."


"Thanks for those final comments. Now onto other news. There are more developments in the case of the young Florida girl who as abducted from her trailer home then killed by a known child molestor..."

"That man should be put to death!! He is a criminal and this just goes to show that we can not show these criminals any leniancy. He should have been imprisoned and executed after his first offense. This is ridiculous!!"

"In other news, Last month, the Census Bureau released annual poverty figures showing that the percentage of Americans who are poor rose from 12.1 percent in 2xxx to 12.5 percent in 2xxx. The Census Bureau reports that 35.9 million persons "lived in poverty" in 2xxx, a number that should cause concern to all"




*The actual poverty figures would be higher in the rpg, I just used them since those are current numbers and would be more real to you.

[Yong]

Bae Yong travels to the country side to bring food to his family. North Korea is just recovering from another great famine, but most people still go without. Unlike African famines, where there is news coverage and celebrity outcries, North Koreans suffer and die invisibly. The west does not see them. They die in their homes, unknown and unseen. It is also different from Africa, since this is a famine in an industrialized society. People are living more in apartments then in villages and huts. Maybe if the west know how many millions of people have died in famines they would not see North Korea as a member of the "axis of evil" but a nation of people, people who are suffering profoundly. The people themselves are not evil. They simply live their lives under the pressures of a very controlled and isolated society. As for the leadership, even their leader is not "evil"...though he seems to exhibit some mental illness and lack of ethical priorities. It is true that much of the suffering is the result of a decisions of their warped communist regime, though, many of these decisions are a reaction to western foreign policy. It is a lose lose situation.

[dead character]

Malik leaves with some of his comrades to Iran. They all leave Lebanon hours after the invassion of Syria. All of them worry about their comrades in Syria. Although they hear on the radio that the UN has taken some emergency measures to send peacekeeping troops to Syria, he feels no better. The UN in this case is simply representing another set of capitalist interests.

[Aslan Shamil]

Aslan is upset when he learns that the UN Secretary General will not be visiting Chechnya. Unlike some of the other rebels, he thinks that international organizations can do a lot for their problems. Sometimes they can do more than terrorism. If they see poverty, shattered homes and schools, orphans, and disabled young men, it speaks much louder for the cause of the Chechens than taking a school or theater hostage. He distrusts international organizations, but sees them as a useful tool. When they come, he always organizes the orphans and the elderly in his neighborhood to leave their homes and "be seen." To win the sympathy of good hearted westerners is an important part of the struggle.

[Lamumba]

On his tour of southern Congo, Lumumba tours a small museum to Che Guevara. The museum is located in South Kivu province, where Che stayed in the 1960s. The revolutionary traveled there to spread socialist revolution, but left nothing of the sort. One of the men he met with was a man named Laurent Kabila. Laurent would indeed change Congo, but not until many years later, and it was a right wing revolution against Mbutu Sese Seko. As you may or may not recall, Mbutu Sese Seko's government is a now famous kleptocracy. Laurent ousted him with the help of Rwandan supporters, whom he later turned on, rekindling a war between the countries.

Lumumba tours the museum, has a few words with people form the village, then drives on to complete his tour.