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Then read what he writes. I read him every week and he IS a liberal. Cannoli Send a noteboard - 09/01/2010 11:45:41 PM
Regardless of what you think of me, I actually don't give someone a pass just because Google tells me that he is "liberal".


I call people liberals when they claim the US is not perfect because they lack a universal health care system. I call them liberals when they complain about naming an aircraft carrier after a Republican president. I call them liberals when they call for the outlawing of SUVs and parrot SENATOR Boxer's line about the real crime of climategate being the theft of confidential e-mails. I call them liberals when reading their column every week shows that they ARE liberals. Esterbrook's complaints about Avatar were on the ham-handed storytelling and plotholes. He does the exact same thing to other science fiction, and is probably the most mainstream writer to discuss science fiction shows in such a non-genre medium. He is a big non-fan of the premises common to sci-fi such as ships with a built-in weakness or design flaw that allows their easy destruction; planets with monolithic cultures & societies; easily or rapidly accomplished feats of engineering such as building space vessels etc. that should be logistically or financially counter-indicated by the circumstances as they are given. Esterbrook's complaints about Avatar had nothing to do with the environmental issues and everything to do with how the people reacted. He correctly points out that the profit-hungry corporation should have seen the obvious potential in the planet's unique biological systems, that we are led to believe the sought-after mineral is responsible for the levitating mountains, but don't bother trying to go after the obvious source - the flying mountains. He cites a reader who mentions horizontal drilling (which is why Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait - they were doing it to him) He criticized the cardboard-cutout & uniform villains, and the straw-man nature of the "message." He appears to be mistaken in his assumption that the soldiers are national military, but only because, in true liberal fashion, he cannot envision humanity dealing with another sentient species without involving the government. He also cites the actions of the bad guys as unrealisticly unsupervised for a corporation OR a goverment.

Or maybe you liberals really DO love watching US soldiers die, and thus you are correct in disclaiming Esterbrook for his heresy in this area?
Cannoli
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” GK Chesteron
Inde muagdhe Aes Sedai misain ye!
Deus Vult!
*MySmiley*
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Suspension of Disbelief with Politics - 05/01/2010 06:46:53 PM 1432 Views
Oh I hear ya! - 05/01/2010 08:35:38 PM 656 Views
I don't completely agree, but this is similar to everyone retroactively hating Tom Cruise's movies. - 05/01/2010 08:47:19 PM 686 Views
Which is just as silly, yes. *NM* - 05/01/2010 08:48:55 PM 313 Views
Who hates Top Gun? That movie R0X0RS! *NM* - 07/01/2010 06:19:48 AM 345 Views
You know, I never understood that - 07/01/2010 07:28:36 AM 568 Views
What?? Min Rep is fantastic! *NM* - 07/01/2010 08:19:30 AM 330 Views
*Stands on counter* I am the last Poet Bartender - 07/01/2010 02:08:56 PM 610 Views
LOL...~hands Dannymac a clue~ - 06/01/2010 04:51:43 AM 810 Views
Just judging him based on what he writes... - 06/01/2010 04:17:49 PM 645 Views
the point is... - 06/01/2010 11:25:46 PM 625 Views
talk about needing a clue - 09/01/2010 06:01:14 PM 579 Views
Then read what he writes. I read him every week and he IS a liberal. - 09/01/2010 11:45:41 PM 572 Views
Wait...I support same-sex marriage. Just not all that other crap. - 07/01/2010 06:18:40 AM 610 Views
trespasses against persons is subjective. - 07/01/2010 07:09:22 AM 676 Views
Actually, it isn't. - 07/01/2010 03:46:30 PM 577 Views
ah I wasn't aware you were referring to a legal term - 07/01/2010 05:37:10 PM 607 Views
Considering that it's made-up BS, why should it be? - 09/01/2010 11:01:31 PM 602 Views
what about those not capable of walking away? - 10/01/2010 03:51:10 AM 526 Views
Who has the right to say a parent is abusing the child, and what prevents abuses the other way? - 10/01/2010 09:13:45 AM 762 Views
You are not wrong - 10/01/2010 04:43:55 PM 588 Views
Re: trespasses against persons is subjective. - 09/01/2010 11:12:57 PM 626 Views
but it is wrong to deny the legal ramifications of marriage - 10/01/2010 04:19:02 AM 716 Views
Civics & economics 101 - 10/01/2010 08:47:07 AM 713 Views
okay, I can agree on your points - 10/01/2010 05:14:32 PM 515 Views
That's not Economics 101. That's practically Anarcho-capitalism. - 13/01/2010 11:54:22 PM 577 Views
Duh. - 14/01/2010 03:00:56 AM 597 Views
The existence of that right isn't what I'm arguing. - 18/01/2010 09:01:07 AM 560 Views
Re: The existence of that right isn't what I'm arguing. - 18/01/2010 11:57:33 AM 872 Views
Apaprently I misread your earlier post. Very good points. *NM* - 19/01/2010 01:17:01 AM 301 Views
I'll agree to the trespass against persons - 09/01/2010 06:07:29 PM 634 Views
What bullshit you write. - 10/01/2010 01:30:02 AM 546 Views
uhm...nothing in nature shares with all. - 10/01/2010 05:28:04 AM 597 Views
So what you're saying is people shouldn't take movies to heart ? - 06/01/2010 01:39:21 PM 626 Views
That's just the point. - 06/01/2010 04:15:48 PM 710 Views
Precisely *NM* - 06/01/2010 04:45:58 PM 335 Views
indeed. they are not "soldiers" - 07/01/2010 07:12:32 AM 577 Views
that's a weasel script - 07/01/2010 09:55:13 AM 602 Views
well, it seems like it was less "lazy script writing" - 07/01/2010 05:38:35 PM 566 Views
huh. Well, my hunch would be - 07/01/2010 10:34:35 PM 694 Views
what makes them "look like military"?? - 09/01/2010 06:15:24 PM 652 Views
arguing the natives as terrorists would be a stretch *NM* - 09/01/2010 10:39:13 PM 318 Views
guessing you've seen it by now - 10/01/2010 12:48:57 PM 510 Views
AMEN *NM* - 09/01/2010 06:09:27 PM 291 Views
if the foo shits, wear it *NM* - 09/01/2010 06:08:11 PM 347 Views
I completely disagree with you about Avatar. - 06/01/2010 02:18:22 PM 678 Views
would you have felt better if they were albino aliens? - 07/01/2010 07:16:20 AM 611 Views
You know what it is for me... - 06/01/2010 07:37:10 PM 694 Views
That's understandable - 07/01/2010 07:25:23 AM 570 Views
That's totally what it is, hah - 08/01/2010 08:57:10 AM 704 Views
See...that's where I'm different. - 08/01/2010 03:33:30 PM 606 Views
I suppose the lesson is to not read about celebrities' politics? - 08/01/2010 06:22:10 PM 474 Views
But that's kind of the point... - 08/01/2010 06:51:05 PM 584 Views
Uh oh, you used the "c" word... - 08/01/2010 07:47:40 PM 681 Views
I hate it when you sound like an actual preacher - 08/01/2010 10:03:28 PM 594 Views
Aw, I liked some of those sentences. - 08/01/2010 11:07:15 PM 538 Views
Isn't that a Bible quote? *NM* - 09/01/2010 12:33:51 AM 319 Views
I guess maybe from an epistle? *NM* - 09/01/2010 02:44:36 AM 296 Views
Yup, Romans 8:31 - 09/01/2010 11:36:46 PM 490 Views
it's not that it was bad - 09/01/2010 01:01:21 AM 648 Views
That seems like a pretty dangerous philosophy. - 09/01/2010 06:24:35 AM 642 Views
Agreed. It also sounds absurd. I have +2 Armor of Christ. How about you? *NM* - 10/01/2010 06:42:24 PM 299 Views
he he *NM* - 11/01/2010 12:20:26 AM 276 Views
Maybe a little. - 11/01/2010 06:06:24 AM 690 Views
I like your philosophy. Thanks for sharing! *NM* - 11/01/2010 03:08:09 PM 267 Views
Ok, so apart from political subtexts, - 07/01/2010 05:40:28 AM 600 Views
You have to admire the world building though - 07/01/2010 07:27:13 AM 512 Views
Both of you are more or less right - 08/01/2010 08:59:34 AM 533 Views
He DID write the original screenplay, I thought? - 08/01/2010 10:04:07 PM 544 Views
And why is it that anyone who can <spoilers!> - 08/01/2010 09:03:45 AM 795 Views
Exactly! *Same spoilers ^he^ had. - 08/01/2010 04:59:16 PM 606 Views
You're looking at it from the outsider point of view - 08/01/2010 10:12:15 PM 581 Views
I don't buy it. - 09/01/2010 06:29:07 AM 609 Views
Especially with the warrior tribe mentality they all have! - 10/01/2010 08:25:57 PM 471 Views
if there were all these hotshot warriors trying - 11/01/2010 12:22:19 AM 555 Views
Poor scriptwriting *NM* - 11/01/2010 12:56:24 AM 283 Views
oh come on - 11/01/2010 01:00:40 AM 597 Views
Gher's right. It's Plot convinience, with a capital P *NM* - 13/01/2010 09:42:07 PM 285 Views
Re: Exactly! *Same spoilers ^he^ had. - 09/01/2010 01:27:59 PM 767 Views
It's pretty easy to conquer one of those things - 10/01/2010 08:27:20 PM 774 Views
Re: It's pretty easy to conquer one of those things - 10/01/2010 08:56:38 PM 543 Views
seriously - 11/01/2010 12:23:58 AM 513 Views

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