Father/Daughter Talk<br><br>A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words redistribution of wealth. She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.<br><br>One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school. Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.<br><br>Her father listened and then asked, 'How is your friend Audrey doing?' She replied, 'Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes , she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over.' Her wise father asked his daughter, 'Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA.'<br><br>The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, 'That's a crazy idea, and how would that be fair! I've worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!'<br><br>The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, 'Welcome to the Republican party.' If anyone has a better explanation of the difference between Republican and Democrat I'm all ears. More jokes at Men's Parenting.

That's a funny story. But I'm not sure it's appropriate or cool for you to use the DadLabs forum as a way to drive traffic to your own parenting web site. I noticed you've only participated in our forum on one other occasion, which you also used to plug your own site.

Yea, taxes vs. GPA. Government vs. College. That's the same thing. Democrats do nothing but party and drink. Republicans are the only ones who work hard. And Obama is a Muslim who wants to destroy Christianity. (It must be true, my Republican friends/family sent it to me in an email.) *yawn*

Hmm-interesting. So, according to your analogy a 'blue collar' worker who works equally as hard as a 'white collar' worker (or even harder if it's a physically demanding job), yet earns only a third as much is who you are comparing to a partying college girl?<br><br>Gee, that makes sense? Oh, & this is coming from someone who has a 'white collar' job & I never vote party lines.

Just for the sake of entertaining you, I never made an anology (nor does the joke) between blue and white collar workers. But since YOU did, I'll point out that you neglected to mention the mental demands on a white collar worker that a blue collar worker may or may not have. Are those demands not 'hard'?<br><br>And since you mentioned it, I'm pretty sure there are some plumbers, electricians and many other blue collar workers out there doing a lot better than much of the white collar workforce.<br><br>Your crass generalizatoins are weak.

Mmmm....lovely. So now mkeegan has succeeded in both stirring up animosity within the community and also driving people to his own website. Nice work there mkeegan. You should be proud.

I'm not aware of anyone coming to my site but isn't the purpose of a social network to 'network'? Is communicating with others about topics of interest a bad thing?<br><br>In any event, the post is a cut/paste joke that I received. I think a few of the people are taking things a bit too seriously.

Simply put, 'tain't funny. And it isn't an explanation of the difference between the parties, as Lori points out, but suddenly she's the crass one. Whatever. Now excuse me while I go skate and drink with my popular friends. We might try to put lipstick on a pig afterwards. And if necessary, I will try to equally distribute my hangover vomit near McCain and Obama campaign signs.

Once again, everyone please lighten up. Why are you all so personally and emotionally vested in this? I don't get it.

I will try to lighten up, sincerely. And I don't take it personally. But it does frustrate me that people actually BELIEVE the stuff that's out there. I have family members, who are well educated, whom are people of the world, and yet, they sat in my living room and told me they believe that Obama is a Muslim! Are you kidding me? I don't care that they'll vote Republican, but THAT is one of their reasons, and that's just dumb. Just like voting for(or against) Obama because he's black is dumb. Just like voting for(or against) Clinton (in the primaries) because she's a woman... Vote for someone who believes what you believe. Vote for someone who shows you a plan that you believe will work. Not for what someone says about the OTHER guy/gal... ya know?<br><br>There are people who believe Democrats just want to give my money away to welfare... and that's not at all the case. I don't get it either. And most of the time, the people who believe that junk are the people who are spreading it. So I sincerely apologize if you know better and are not one of those people.<br><br>Ok, I'm gonna go vomit now... (just kidding - we didn't drink, but I lost the lipstick in the mud) <br><br>And dammit Sean! See, I said I wasn't gonna delve into political discussions! I blame DaddyClay for baiting me. Chicken it is for me now.

Hey - I appreciate your sincerity. I do tend to vote by party but to say I'm a Republican is a misnomer - I'm more of a Libertarian but the Republican platform tends to be more in line with my beliefs than other platforms that have a chance of winning office.<br><br>I firmly believe in electing the best candidate - don't give a shit about their color or gender. And my mother-in-law really disappointed me a few years ago when speaking of Hillary said she'd like to she her elected 'because she's a woman.' That is as bad (as you pointed out) as not voting for someone because they are a woman. Insert any identifier in place of 'woman'.<br><br>Peace out.<br><br>Don't mean to promote myself too much but I do have a site where I write about this and other topics of interest. It's Men's Parenting - hope you'll take a look and jump in to our discussions.

You have NO idea how much restraint and self-control I had to summon up in order to prevent myself from spewing all over these political discussions!!!<br><br>( I am a political junkie, like many people in the DC area).

Wow, crass. That's a new one on me. Actually, since I have many friends in both white & blue collar jobs, I was considering the point of view from both sides. I mean, I've been very lucky to have been brought up in a middle class family & had the opportunity to go to school to learn the trade that I am in. I honestly believe that if I did not receive the financial aid of my family, I never could have gotten where I am. So, that being said, even though I am mentally capable of doing my job I could have ended up elsewhere had I not had the money to assist.<br><br>NOW - I am the first person to say I am annoyed by the folks who take advantage of the system & get money from the government when they are just being lazy, but I cannot hold that against the honest people who need it.<br><br>I do agree that the mental demands (in general) are usually harder in my profession. However, I would never think that my job was harder than someone who makes less money because they are in a different type of job.<br><br>I guess for me it just upsets me that the initial 'joke' (?) failed miserably in making a point to me & just got me a bit stirred up. Heck, I'm not even into politics normally. I guess I just want people to think for themselves & not listen to the hype. It's hard enough to determine who is lying the least (is their any truth in politics?).<br><br>I'm cool with everyone on the site & I wasn't out to start an argument. Just wanted to give my 2 cents.<br><br>Maybe I'll just vote for 'None of the above'. (Unless Daddy Clay gets on the ticket?!)

But he's a Longhorns fan...

Hook 'em. And by the way, I know it is incredibly shallow given the suffering that surely awaits those in the path of Ike, but I'm PISSED about the game being rescheduled. There. I said it.

HA! Spoken like a true fanatic. I almost just said What game? But thought that might be rude.

I get this one a lot in my family circles. Here is my stock reply: Does the Democrats = Big Government really stand up any more? Hasn't the federal budget ballooned and hasn't the deficit increased drastically under Bush? I'm not sure that the underlying assertion of redistribution of wealth really holds up when you look at these numbers.

Oh, MAN, why oh why do you guys insist on baiting me...????<br><br>I agree with some portion of your argument. But look, Bush is not a real Republican. Please don't buy into the hype that Bush = McCain = Republican. Any true Reagan Republican is mortified by the actions of Bush.<br><br>I'm going to stop here. But I will mention that I am reading Grover Norquist's book entitled Leave Us Alone, and it gives a whole new perspective on the political arguments. I can highly recommend it for anyone who has a Libertarian streak.

I'll look into the book. And I agree with your comments about Bush and Reagan Republicans.<br><br>I miss the Gipper…