PL GETTING FLAMED!

Okay, here's "Rick" ripping me a new one, but doing so, I might add, with a great deal of thoughtful, impassioned arguments. I'm going to leave this one up for a bit without a response from me, though I certainly would welcome any reactions from any other readers.

Here's "Rick":

"There you go again!
"I would like to commend you on your passion about this election and Obama. Passion usually leads to such a singleness of purpose which makes what was once considered unattainable, a reality. Unfortunately, that very passion can also make us close-minded, unreasonable and hurtful. 'In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible.'
Orwell, George
"No matter what came out about McCain or Obama, there would still be people who would support them either because of the party, race,gender, one issue or because they feel other issues override any shortcomings.
"I, like Loff56, have written about the narrow and the seemingly incongruous views (for a therapist) incessantly posted on this blog. Whether we call it a judgment, assessment or opinion, it still comes across as 'my way or the highway' and close-minded. As I and others have written, your commentary, although quite amusing, is painfully dogmatic and unproductive. You define stupid as 'when you rely on superstitious, regressed thinking and behavior for ego-driven purposes, for a self-aggrandizing agenda and/or out of exaggerated pride, while pretending there won't be any negative consequences for such behavior.' Do you really think that there wouldn’t be any negative consequences for your writings? If people read your blog, the 'I am right and you are wrong' tone is clearly ego driven, self-aggrandizing and regressed. People will tune you out. If you expected this negative consequence, then, according to you, you are not stupid. If you didn't think people will now dismiss the balanced and beneficial things you sometimes write, well, by your own pen, one would have to classify you as stupid.
"To qualify my position on this election, I do follow the issues and have taken action to make a difference. I ran for several political offices. I won and lost. I am involved, and ran for those offices to really make a difference. Unfortunately, my Mr. Smith Goes to Washington ideals never made it beyond my town. Although I am sensitive to the incredibly biased, political info out there, I try to be open to others and allow the opportunity for learning.
"I am one of “those people” who is undecided. However, I am leaning towards leaving that election box blank or voting for someone other than the two big guys. Blanks are recorded and indicate that I did show up to vote but did not choose from the options on that particular race. Not showing up at all is a different pig with bad lipstick. To defend not voting at all, sorry, see aformentioned Orwell quote. There are other races and ballot questions on this year's ballot and I will not leave those blank.
"Here is why I am struggling with the last two standing… McCain = Keating 5. That is a fact. Given the leadership we need in this economy, I could end my argument here. He is no longer the maverick/centrist he was in 2000. His failure to come out assertively on his positions and show some passion for the job, leads me to think that he has lost a few steps. As Al Gore did in 2000, John McCain is doing now, departing from the core values that got him to Washington in the first place. (Al Gore lost his own state in 2000 because he was no longer the Vietnam enlisting, gun carrying, anti pro-choice (Is that a more honest way of putting it?) and one of the most passionate environmentalists Washington had seen.) You change your fundamental stripes and that leads to questions on your character. Gore returned to his roots and won a Nobel prize.
"Obama = smoke + mirrors. He is inspiring, eloquent and has the passion to win an election. I think he is a genuinely good person. However, there is nothing in his record that proves the kind of mettle required to run this country. In addition, his lack of transparency with respect to reasonable questions about his background and the connections he has with many questionable characters and groups, those are facts, make me question and fear him. One could argue the criticisms are biased, unfortunately, so too are the defenses which make it difficult to navigate these muddled waters unless you have experience in 'political speech.'
"With only a few hours to go, Obama and McCain still haven’t allayed my concerns. If one chooses to ignore these shortcomings, that doesn’t make them stupid, in need of therapy, or even uninformed. They are just voting on what they feel is right.
"In a few years, some people will know if our thoughts, assessments, judgments + opinions were honest and ’IF’ - we have 'freed up and cleared out of ourselves the distorted, destructive deformations of our character structures (our collection of defenses).'
"The rest of us will just simply say we got it right or wrong.