To all those venturing into the political tit-for-tat:
I have come to the exasperated and exhausted conclusion that everyone's politcal opinions, no matter what they are, rest on selective memory, selective reading material/newscasts/reports/, and allegience to selective and slanted interpretations of historical events.
Seriously, do you realize that people don't merely argue, they CONTRADICT each other constantly. One person says that X happened, another will insist that's a myth. Or that X program makes Y happen and that history has proven it, and the opponent will insist that only a very cherry-picked interpretation of history will show this, the rest showing the opposite.
The problem, it seems to me, is that we simply THINK we know things. We read an author or listen to a commentator we personally trust, and believe what they say, especially when they cite references and sources. We watch the news and take with a grain of salt (or a whole saltshaker, perhaps) but still basically believe it, and we let our philosophies be shaped by this very unstable method of gathering information. (I'm including myself here.)
What drives me insane with frustration is that people don't just have different opinions, they have different #@!!% FACTS!!! How the bloody hell are we supposed to know who to believe? Everyone professes to speak to the truth or to be quoting legitimate info, yet they are endlessly contradicted and challenged by all shades of disagreeing parties.
WELL? DID X, in fact, happen? Did it not happen? Has it been embellished? Are there things most people don't know? Has it become grossly distorted (yes, it has. no matter what it is)?
This November will only be my second presidential election. I already know who I'm voting for, but I can NEVER be certain of anything. Not a simple anecdotal snippet (read "fact"), not a respected researcher's book, not CNN or Fox, not ANYTHING. Having a glut of information floating around is both one of the best and worst things about our democracy. Huxley was right----the truth is drowning in the vast ocean; no one needsto cover it up. Everyone is confident that what they know is the truth--the way things really are or how things really happened, and that's precisely why it's impossible to weigh it all, at least as far as I can see. All I want is the truth, but I'm beginning to realize such a thing may not even exist as a solid concept. (Guess Orwell's character in "1984" was right, too! :lol: )
Having said all that, can some of you please grow up? You're acting like children.
And about Reagan----his hair was real all right. He apparantly had some sort of rare genetic variant. It's not that he kept all his hair that's so unusual, it's that he kept the thickness AND his original child's hairline.
No need to dig him up---ya won't find no rug.