Why I'm voting Democrat..Just read it>>>

[SKYCHENEY]

When she breaks it apart, I'm going with her. You guys can have the other part

[Walter P]

Guys and Girls,,,

Let's please be careful about politcal discussions on this forum. If it somehow relates to boats, I believe we are in agreement that Hatteras is where it's at. Politics and religion are sensitive issues and we all want to be civil to our fellow HOF ers.

Thanks

Walt

[yachtsmanbill]

Excuse me, but are you suggesting that people of African descent are monkeys? I have long admired your rebuild of the "sub" but really.......

I am sorry that you mis construed what I was refering to... isnt a primary running mate a primate?? I always get mixed up with this political rhetoric. Hmmm
Monkeys have that non opposable index finger thing going on, and as I recall, my negroe gastroenterologist did a great job on my major stomach bypass 5 years ago. The A.M.A. was giving the Roux-N-Y procedure a ONE PERCENT mortality rate... and that aint good brutha... ;-) By the way, I refuse to abide by that african american BS. I am third generation German, but I am an AMERICAN. PERIOD.
Please enjoy the rebuild stuff; its my pleasure to share that, but we as a country need to get off that other crap before its too late. Time will tell.... ws

[garyd]

Walt, I disagree we need to know what is really happening and why it is going good or bad in order to protect our boating interests. The Democratic party is directly oppopsed to Hatteras owners. They will do everything in their power to kill our sport and our way of live. So this thread has everything to do with boating in that the DEMS are trying to kill it any and every way they can. If you don't like a thread like this don't read it, or don't open it, your choice. Someone has already tried to sling mud on the next VP. The opening statements are trueism that the democratic party pushes at every turn, like it or not.

garyd

[Boatsb]

Excuse me, but are you suggesting that people of African descent are monkeys? I have long admired your rebuild of the "sub" but really.......

Defending Nagin who openly spoke out against anyone but people of color rebuilding Norleans is just not going to work. Nagins Ideas of the chocolate norleans is completely BS. Who would rebuild it? Who would finance it? Who would get free housing and support.

That comment was not prejudicial. Nagin earned it.

[yachtsmanbill]

WHEWWWW !!!!! ws

[Westfield 11]

Defending Nagin who openly spoke out against anyone but people of color rebuilding Norleans is just not going to work. Nagins Ideas of the chocolate norleans is completely BS. Who would rebuild it? Who would finance it? Who would get free housing and support.

That comment was not prejudicial. Nagin earned it.

Scott, I was not defending a fool like Mr. Nagin, just saying that in 2008 there is no place for calling a man you disagree with who happens to be of another race a "primate". Besides being a demeaning remark it also does nothing to advance the debate above the level of an elementary school playground. Debate is a conflict of ideas and is a wonderful thing, personal insults are not.

BTW, I am also 1st generation American on my father's side. He and his family fled Lithuania in 1941 when the Germans arrived and liberated them from the Russian Communists. My grandfather spent 3 1/2 years in a Russian camp in Siberia untill he was rescued by a heroic US consular official who showed up at the prison gates with his US passport and insisted upon his release. (sometimes government does work for the people!) So I do understand how precious are the freedoms guaranteed in our constitution and I believe wholeheartedly in the preservation of our Union of states.

[Walter P]

All,

My post did not suggest that we not discuss politics. I implored everyone to be civil. We are all in this together and I believe we are all Americans (most of us anyway). I guess that I'm a little sensitive about these things.

FYI... I am an old Navy guy (71 yr old) who served our country for 6 years. I do not regret one minute of it. I had been invol ved in local politics for a long time and was a loyal Democrat on a local and mostly state level. That being said it probably comes as some sort of surprise that I am 100% behind McCain/Palin. In my opinion they share my political beliefs and what I think is best for our country. In no way will I degrade the other ticket. They are I'm sure honorable people who happen to have a different view of where we should go and how to do it.

Walt

PS: Besides my guy is married to a lady who owns a brewery and his running mate is a life member of the NRA.. Try to top that....

[SKYCHENEY]

Beer and guns. I like it.

[jim rosenthal]

THIS Hatteras owner is a lifelong Democrat and proud of it. Here's why: a civilized country takes care of its elderly, its sick, its infirm, and its mentally ill. It doesn't do it through informal means; it recognizes that decency demands it. Am I a one-issue voter? no- but the one issue that is more important to me than anything else is something I know a lot about, from spending years in the trenches and nearly fifty thousand hours in emergency rooms. If I were a pair of Detroits, I'd have been majored at least four or five times by now.

On this topic, one on which I speak with experience and authority, this country has a long way to go. I'm not ex-military and I don't venture public opinions on that. I'm not in the energy business and I don't venture public opinions on that. I don't care who marries who, and I am not venturing opinions on that- really, I couldn't care less. And I think if the people of the United States REALLY wanted women not to have abortions they would have passed laws long ago making it illegal. This, again, is something I DO know something about. But the disagreement about abortion is not by any means the main issue of this campaign we are now watching.

In 1979 I went off to medical school with the aim of learning to be a physician and to learn to help the sick, injured and dying. Although I enjoy my other interests a great deal, being a doctor is the one thing that has given my life coherence and meaning. I think that everyone- I don't care who they are- deserves to be taken care of when they are ill, when they are young, when they are old, when they are crazy, when they are hurt. And I also think that they deserve to have the means available to them to avoid getting sick, getting injured, going crazy, etc.

I don't think there's any higher priority in this country than for the USA to join the ranks of civilized nations that one way or the other have universal access to health care. And I want to point out to all of you that EVERY DAY the 140 physicians (plus all the PAs etc) in our practice live this: we take care of everyone, no matter who they are, to the absolute best of our ability. We and people like us, more than anyone else, are THE safety net for everyone in this country when they are sick and they don't hae any other way to get medical care. Our practice gets maybe 25 cents on the dollar for what we do, but no one's left, except to retire or move- we're all still doing it. If I had taken the private practice opportunities offered to me, I'd be retired by now. I didn't.

I'm a Democrat because, more than anything else, I believe that people have a responsibility for each others well-being. To put it plainly, I believe that we are our brothers and sisters keepers. I also feel strongly that the best chance of this country (which I care about as much as ANY of you all do) moving into the modern era and for once and for all squarely facing its responsibilities for the health of its citizens rest with having a Democratic president. The USA needs to face this whole issue and deal with it directly and openly and not through the current system of half-truths, outright deceptions, gouging, neglect and half-assed methods that we now employ. We spend a fortune on health care; we get far less than a fortune's worth. It's a national disgrace that a country renowned for its drive and intelligence and guts has buried its head in the sand and refused to face reality on this issue.

I've watched this thread for a while, and said nothing until this evening when I couldn't sleep and logged on, mostly to read the Ferrari thread. You want to know who's a Democrat and why? There it is. If you want to differ with me, fine, but do so intelligently- no BS. Marshal your facts, make your arguments. And remember- on this issue, I've lived it for decades, I know exactly what I am talking about.

I have nothing against John McCain; he's a decent guy, a public servant, a combat veteran, and not a bad fellow. More than likely, according to his lights, he'd make a decent president. I do think his choice for VP is naive and foolish; there were far better people available, some well-known, some not so well-known. But on the one issue that really matters to me as a doctor, he isn't going to deliver the goods. We'll have four or eight more years of the same- an inefficient expensive system that is bankrupting the country.

I'm not naive enough to think that an organized system of medical care will be cheaper than what we now have- things seldom get cheaper, unless they are LCD television sets. What I DO hope for is that we get more for our money, and better. That IS possible, I don't think it's too much to hope for, and we have a chance of getting it in a Democratic administration. In a GOP administration, it is HOPELESS. Absolutely hopeless.

All of us- me, you, and every single one of us out there- is going to get sick and die someday. I hope for all of our sakes that is a long way off, but when that day comes, for each of us, I want the best for us- for ALL of us. I don't want anyone ever to be bankrupted by medical bills, like so many people I have seen, or be unable to afford medicines they need, or to have to choose between eating and getting their medicine. I've seen all this, I've lived with it, and listened to it. We deserve better.

So that- among other reasons, but that's the chief one- is why I'm a Democrat. You'd be surprised at how many emergency medicine doctors are. Not many plastic surgeons, or dermatologists, or radiologists are- they don't have to do what we do. But quite a lot of us who ARE the safety net and know what people endure that they shouldn't have to- many of us are Democrats. And proud of it.