The Blog of toussaint

Webster:  Amnesty(n)- pardon for political offense.

American Heritage Dic.: Amnesty(n)- A general pardon for offenders by a government, especially for political offenses.

i am so tired of this word being thrown around the immigration debate!!!  The political discourse in this country has become a game of labeling issue with scary, focus group tested words.  No one is for amnesty because the word doesn't apply, but everyone is using it.  Rep. say this bill that has a fine in it is amnesty.  John McCain says not passing this bill is amnesty.  They say this because when polled Americans don't want amnesty, but if you poll on what we want the numbers reverse and people want the things in this bill.  Enforcement of the border, national i.d. , and limits on future immigration.  No!, no say the Rep. on this bill because it is amnesty.  Amnesty is against their religion, ohh, except when in comes to Scooter Libby.  Then these same people say he must get amnesty. At least the word makes sense in that context.  Please give us a break and let us discuss this bill on the merits or lack there of.  Please stop being played by politicians labeling of issue with this buzz words.

They are doing the same thing on stem cell research.  They have made it into an abortion issue, knowing full well that they only want to test on embryos that are already in some freezer at a fertility clinic and would be thrown in the trash if we don't study them. 

When someone says that they are for civil unions, they say no, that's gay marriage because they know people don't like that term.

They say if you believe in evolution, you must be anti-creationism,  totally disregarding that a person can believe that God created the world and set in motion evolution to ensure His plan for us to grow and learn.

On abortion, they say if you are against abortion you are pro-life.  Who in this world is anti-life except i guess someone who is committing suicide. 

Oh yeah,  let's not forget about the "surge".  If you are against it, it is not a surge but an escalation.

If you want everyone to have health care you are for Socialized medicine.  They say that because every one is afraid of the failing system in England that bears the same name.  As though it is not possible to have a system that every one could afford that is not run by the government in some horrible bureaucratic way.

If you believe in a fair minimum wage then you are anti-business and want to crash the economy.

i won't even get started on the label of liberal, people use it as a curse word now.

i could go on like this forever but i think you get the point.  Words have specific meanings people, that is why we make dictionaries.  Let us not be fooled again by these labels and examine the issues on the merits realizing that not every issue is black or white but might have some shades of gray.