I'm kind of baffled by "Independent" voters. To me, there seems to be a sharp enough deviation between the 2 major parties that most people would be able to pick one. And if you're a social liberal and economic conservative then you have the Libertarians. I wonder about the folks that change their vote from one…

Another good comment. Thanks for the discussion.

Fair enough. This was essentially the reply I was looking for. I heartily agree with this part: "I don't care what choices people make, I just want their legal ability to make a choice to be protected". That is precisely why I'm so conflicted. I generally want people to be left alone to make there own decisions and…

It's probably the most consistently emotional topic in politics. Things like guns get emotional when something like Sandy Hook happens, but it's never a sustained thing. Having said that, you've sort of made my point and even thrown in the ole' "anti-choice" label just for good measure.

Funny you phrased it that way. I've always been irked by the way the Right reflexively chucks religion into the discussion. I'm pretty socially liberal, but I've always been squeamish on abortion precisely because no one has ever given me a rational idea of when a fetus is a "living thing". I can say from a personal…

That's a great explanation, and one that I think applies to everyone everywhere. Even different regions of the same country. Like the gentleman up-thread who suggested that only the South is "crazy". As if there weren't crazy people evenly distributed all over the country*.

Thanks for mentioning this. I've always had a soft spot for this movie after taking a girlfriend to see it in high school. I re-watched it not long ago and came to the same conclusions you did.

Makes me think of Heinlein's short story Life-Line, which I always loved.

I think you missed, like, ALL of the sarcasm in my comment.

Nonsense. If there's one thing every Dune fan wants, it's back-stories of your favorite characters written as boringly as possible. Why, I was always fascinated by a war against machines, but all the excitement and action of the Terminator was just too much for me. Now, thanks to these fine gentlemen, I can read about…

Well, not that it will beat Hodorbock, but I would go with: