Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

No Left Turns

A Poll and a Plea

First, a plea (and pardon my catharsis): Please--I beg of all you GOP candidates--no respectable Republican candidate for President should ever sign on to make or sell or send out these. I have no reason other than the arbitrary one that I am so sick of looking at these stupid rubber bracelets--and that the sight of them reminds me of John Kerry skiing. They can be found now in every color under the sun, promoting every imaginable mindless idiocy that man can invent--so please, stop already! I simply can’t take any more. Also, I’m tired of tripping over these dumb things every time my kids’ school has a fund-raiser. This is not a prize, it’s a curse. Stop sending these home! Further, this is not effective advertising. If you wear one of these things you are in need of mental scrutiny--not to mention fashion advice. In fact, I am so violently opposed to rubber bracelets, that I vow to burn any said items that come within my possession--take that, Al Gore. O.k., now I feel better! What can I say . . . I had to drive to Glendale in LA traffic this morning. I’m just a little tense!

Now the poll which offers a bit of good news--and further evidence that these stupid bracelets don’t help your cause.

Discussions - 17 Comments

Wow, wow, Julie’s worked up!

Uhm, confession time Julie, I usually wear two of those bands every day, sometimes three. One is desert camo, with the word VICTORY engraved in it. Another is one that I picked up at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, it’s a red, white and blue coloured band, with the words "WE THE PEOPLE" engraved in old lettering. Sometimes I’ll wear the LiveStrong band of Lance Armstrong, {my brother bought that for me}. I’ve got a band that says "SUPPORT THE TROOPS," but I don’t wear that frequently. I wear them on my left wrist, along with my Swiss Army watch.

Hello Julie. I just wanted to say something supportive for a change: I agree with you completely.

Uh ... should the rest of us be mad too? I fail to see what the problem is.

Like most real conservatives, unless Ron Paul or Tom Tancredo receives the nomination, I am voting Constitution Party.
https://www.conservativeexodusproject.com/

I like the yellow band sold on The Onion: CHEAT TO WIN.

Heh, I am proud to say I never wore one, though I did send money to the Livestrong Fdn. I checked off the box saying no thank you I don’t need a bracelet but they sent one anyway.

Dear Anon . . . I like that one almost as much as the bumper sticker that says "My kid beat up your honor student." I’m still laughing . . .!

Good Lord! You have become Andy Rooney!

In that case I’d better go pluck my eyebrows . . . among (many!) other things.

Somehow a rubber Hillary bracelet (his and hers?) seems appropriate, symbolizeing how easy it was for Bill to slip out of his marriage vows!

Julie, you realize that the line "Cheat to Win" isn’t just something to amuse. It’s intended to slight the achievements of Armstrong, and it’s meant to imply that he won through drug use, not through hard work and God-given talent.

I began as an Armstrong skeptic, {when something or someone is that hyped, I almost immediately become suspicious}. But Armstrong, {like Tiger Woods, another case where I was initially skeptical} has proven himself real deal. I think it was his final win where he had to go cross country, battled through a couple of bad falls, got himself tangled up with the plastic bag of a spectator, yet nonetheless battled through to win, that’s ALL real deal. Deserves better than the trivializing mockery of The Onion, offering a "Cheat to Win" band. How many drug tests has Armstrong had? How many times has the Tour De France rejiggered their race all in an attempt to prevent him winning? And when nothing else worked, a campaign of rumours and innuendos, all in an attempt to prove that the American couldn’t be the best in a sport that Europeans have owned since its inception.

So "Cheat to Win" is ultimately in poor taste.

There’s a lot of people out there who do nothing but trivialize, tear down, mock and scorn. Too damn many of them.

And that’s partly to blame why when a 4th rate state like Iran seizes men of the Royal Navy, nobody gets too worked up about it. Because everything, absolutely everything has been torn down, mocked, scoffed at, rendered worthless.

Of course if The Onion’s "Cheat to Win" was referring to the Clintons, ............ then they’d be on to something. But alas, we know that’s not what they were referring to.

Maybe I’ll send you one of my Stars and Stripes wrist bands.

Dan: No, I didn’t realize that because I never followed Armstrong enough to know that he was accused of any of these things. Sorry I pay almost no attention to sports or sports celebrities! If what you say is the case, then it is a tacky--and worse, little--joke that I can’t find amusing anymore. But by itself and apart from Armstrong--I’m warming to this idea of snarky little bracelets with mocking little phrases apropos nothing.

Seriously, wouldn’t you love to see a Saturday Night Live skit where a group of geeky folks dukes it out over who has the coolest rubber bracelets when, in actuality, they’re all completely stupid? You may be skeptical about hyped up sports figures--I’m skeptical about sheepish and slavish devotion to bizarre fashion trends. Particularly when old guys like John Kerry start sporting the attire! And don’t even get me started on the whole "Red" campaign with Bono.

Dan, lighten up! Why are some conservatives on this blog becoming increasingly humorless? I always thought a sense of humor was the one thing conservatives generally had over liberals.

Man, someone had too much coffee today, huh? Or was it Kool-Aid? The special "hate the world and anyone who doesn’t agree with me" kind, I would imagine.

This is what’s wrong with conservatism. It’s a seething pile of hate wrapped in the American flag. As a philosophy it’s perfectly acceptable to believe what you want, but it always gets tripped up in blaming everyone else for poor choices made by listening to too many sound bites and not paying attention to enough debates.

What business is it of yours how an organization chooses to raise money?

"Cheat to Win" is funny. I laughed when I first read it too, just like Julie. But the more I thought of it, the less humorous it became. Armstrong won SEVEN Tours, was tested God only knows how many times, and yet he’s under a cloud, for baseless and reckless accusations.

Remember, The Onion said their rubber band was YELLOW, just like Armstrong’s. If it wasn’t yellow, then you could consider it just a general statement mocking those that do cheat, a rip at guys like Barry Bond, and various track-stars who are drugged up. But the band was yellow, so the "Cheat to Win" it’s clear was a jibe at a guy who’s already had to deal with enough of that crap from the French and the Europeans.

Lance Armstrong is a genuine American success story. So if The Onion needs to rip athletes who "Cheat to Win," and there are plenty of them, then let The Onion rip them, and leave Armstrong in peace. Effectively The Onion chose sides between Armstrong and his accusers, who have nothing to back up their campaign of rumours against him. So although The Onion’s jibe was funny, hilarious even, they still picked a side, the wrong side. They should get no break from us.

Come on! - The Onion is just as likely to praise Lance for winning the Tour de France with one testicle as it is to take a swipe at him for rumored cheating. The Onion’s band is yellow because it’s funnier that way. You *expect* to see LIVE STRONG and then you encounter slacker humor. Your criticisms could use a little jouissance.

Wow, Anon took me to task. If The Onion is as likely to praise as they are to de facto pick a side in the Armstrong matter, then that’s praiseworthy.

I left the one testicle aspect out because it was far more difficult for Armstrong to win with his sharp reduction in lung capacity. To get at the cancer, sections of his lungs were carved out, yet nonetheless, the guy managed to win a race where aerobic capacity is crucial. What he did was amazing. And may never be replicated, though it’s wise to be cautious in making such predictions.

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