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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 1426 Views
Oh I hear ya! - 05/01/2010 08:35:38 PM 649 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 680 Views
Which is just as silly, yes. *NM* - 05/01/2010 08:48:55 PM 310 Views
Who hates Top Gun? That movie R0X0RS! *NM* - 07/01/2010 06:19:48 AM 343 Views
You know, I never understood that - 07/01/2010 07:28:36 AM 561 Views
What?? Min Rep is fantastic! *NM* - 07/01/2010 08:19:30 AM 328 Views
*Stands on counter* I am the last Poet Bartender - 07/01/2010 02:08:56 PM 604 Views
LOL...~hands Dannymac a clue~ - 06/01/2010 04:51:43 AM 803 Views
Just judging him based on what he writes... - 06/01/2010 04:17:49 PM 640 Views
the point is... - 06/01/2010 11:25:46 PM 619 Views
talk about needing a clue - 09/01/2010 06:01:14 PM 573 Views
Then read what he writes. I read him every week and he IS a liberal. - 09/01/2010 11:45:41 PM 565 Views
Wait...I support same-sex marriage. Just not all that other crap. - 07/01/2010 06:18:40 AM 604 Views
trespasses against persons is subjective. - 07/01/2010 07:09:22 AM 671 Views
Actually, it isn't. - 07/01/2010 03:46:30 PM 570 Views
ah I wasn't aware you were referring to a legal term - 07/01/2010 05:37:10 PM 600 Views
Considering that it's made-up BS, why should it be? - 09/01/2010 11:01:31 PM 597 Views
what about those not capable of walking away? - 10/01/2010 03:51:10 AM 523 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 754 Views
You are not wrong - 10/01/2010 04:43:55 PM 583 Views
Re: trespasses against persons is subjective. - 09/01/2010 11:12:57 PM 621 Views
but it is wrong to deny the legal ramifications of marriage - 10/01/2010 04:19:02 AM 710 Views
Civics & economics 101 - 10/01/2010 08:47:07 AM 707 Views
okay, I can agree on your points - 10/01/2010 05:14:32 PM 509 Views
That's not Economics 101. That's practically Anarcho-capitalism. - 13/01/2010 11:54:22 PM 571 Views
Duh. - 14/01/2010 03:00:56 AM 591 Views
The existence of that right isn't what I'm arguing. - 18/01/2010 09:01:07 AM 555 Views
Re: The existence of that right isn't what I'm arguing. - 18/01/2010 11:57:33 AM 864 Views
Apaprently I misread your earlier post. Very good points. *NM* - 19/01/2010 01:17:01 AM 299 Views
I'll agree to the trespass against persons - 09/01/2010 06:07:29 PM 629 Views
What bullshit you write. - 10/01/2010 01:30:02 AM 539 Views
uhm...nothing in nature shares with all. - 10/01/2010 05:28:04 AM 591 Views
So what you're saying is people shouldn't take movies to heart ? - 06/01/2010 01:39:21 PM 619 Views
That's just the point. - 06/01/2010 04:15:48 PM 703 Views
Precisely *NM* - 06/01/2010 04:45:58 PM 333 Views
indeed. they are not "soldiers" - 07/01/2010 07:12:32 AM 572 Views
that's a weasel script - 07/01/2010 09:55:13 AM 595 Views
well, it seems like it was less "lazy script writing" - 07/01/2010 05:38:35 PM 560 Views
huh. Well, my hunch would be - 07/01/2010 10:34:35 PM 689 Views
what makes them "look like military"?? - 09/01/2010 06:15:24 PM 646 Views
arguing the natives as terrorists would be a stretch *NM* - 09/01/2010 10:39:13 PM 315 Views
guessing you've seen it by now - 10/01/2010 12:48:57 PM 505 Views
AMEN *NM* - 09/01/2010 06:09:27 PM 289 Views
if the foo shits, wear it *NM* - 09/01/2010 06:08:11 PM 344 Views
I completely disagree with you about Avatar. - 06/01/2010 02:18:22 PM 672 Views
would you have felt better if they were albino aliens? - 07/01/2010 07:16:20 AM 605 Views
You know what it is for me... - 06/01/2010 07:37:10 PM 689 Views
That's understandable - 07/01/2010 07:25:23 AM 564 Views
That's totally what it is, hah - 08/01/2010 08:57:10 AM 698 Views
See...that's where I'm different. - 08/01/2010 03:33:30 PM 600 Views
I suppose the lesson is to not read about celebrities' politics? - 08/01/2010 06:22:10 PM 468 Views
But that's kind of the point... - 08/01/2010 06:51:05 PM 579 Views
Uh oh, you used the "c" word... - 08/01/2010 07:47:40 PM 673 Views
I hate it when you sound like an actual preacher - 08/01/2010 10:03:28 PM 589 Views
Aw, I liked some of those sentences. - 08/01/2010 11:07:15 PM 532 Views
Isn't that a Bible quote? *NM* - 09/01/2010 12:33:51 AM 317 Views
I guess maybe from an epistle? *NM* - 09/01/2010 02:44:36 AM 294 Views
Yup, Romans 8:31 - 09/01/2010 11:36:46 PM 484 Views
it's not that it was bad - 09/01/2010 01:01:21 AM 643 Views
That seems like a pretty dangerous philosophy. - 09/01/2010 06:24:35 AM 636 Views
Agreed. It also sounds absurd. I have +2 Armor of Christ. How about you? *NM* - 10/01/2010 06:42:24 PM 297 Views
he he *NM* - 11/01/2010 12:20:26 AM 274 Views
Maybe a little. - 11/01/2010 06:06:24 AM 683 Views
I like your philosophy. Thanks for sharing! *NM* - 11/01/2010 03:08:09 PM 265 Views
Ok, so apart from political subtexts, - 07/01/2010 05:40:28 AM 594 Views
You have to admire the world building though - 07/01/2010 07:27:13 AM 505 Views
Both of you are more or less right - 08/01/2010 08:59:34 AM 528 Views
He DID write the original screenplay, I thought? - 08/01/2010 10:04:07 PM 537 Views
And why is it that anyone who can <spoilers!> - 08/01/2010 09:03:45 AM 789 Views
Exactly! *Same spoilers ^he^ had. - 08/01/2010 04:59:16 PM 600 Views
You're looking at it from the outsider point of view - 08/01/2010 10:12:15 PM 576 Views
I don't buy it. - 09/01/2010 06:29:07 AM 603 Views
Especially with the warrior tribe mentality they all have! - 10/01/2010 08:25:57 PM 465 Views
if there were all these hotshot warriors trying - 11/01/2010 12:22:19 AM 547 Views
Poor scriptwriting *NM* - 11/01/2010 12:56:24 AM 281 Views
oh come on - 11/01/2010 01:00:40 AM 591 Views
Gher's right. It's Plot convinience, with a capital P *NM* - 13/01/2010 09:42:07 PM 283 Views
Re: Exactly! *Same spoilers ^he^ had. - 09/01/2010 01:27:59 PM 761 Views
It's pretty easy to conquer one of those things - 10/01/2010 08:27:20 PM 766 Views
Re: It's pretty easy to conquer one of those things - 10/01/2010 08:56:38 PM 538 Views
seriously - 11/01/2010 12:23:58 AM 506 Views

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