[nfb-talk] New List for Blind Conservatives

[John G. Heim]

I'd suggest that if you really want to discuss this rationally you refrain 
from using perjoritives like "leftist" and "socialist". The correct term is 
"liberal" or "progressive".


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ray Foret jr" <rforetjr at comcast.net>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010 10:05 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] New List for Blind Conservatives


> RyanO,
>
> I must publicly applaud you for taking this very long overdue stand for us 
> blind conservatives.  Let me be completely frank here, at perhaps some 
> risk to myself.  For much too long now, I have feared that perhaps the 
> federation was leaning rather too far over to the left.  But why?  It's 
> the entitlement mentality of the SSI check; to put it bluntly.  We poor 
> blind think we can't live without it.  But, the sad truth is, that for 
> many of us, that think is a physical reality.  That is the reason why more 
> of us don't have jobs.  We get punished for trying to start to go to work. 
> When we do, we don't make enough money to live by; and yet, on the other 
> hand, we make too much to receive any help from the socialist security 
> system.  What, there fore, is the sad result?  The sad result is that too 
> many blind individuals adopt leftist socialism because they think that 
> government will "look after us".  IF you just stop and consider for a 
> moment what that really means, you'll see that i
> t goes directly against the grain of true federationism.  It personally 
> hurt me when Joanne Wilson and the rest of us were deceived by the 
> Republican party in or about 2005 when Secretary Spelling wanted to 
> dismantle blind rehab.  Frankly, I felt then and feel still that my fellow 
> conservatives were completely wrong on that score.  They seem to hate 
> political correctness; that is, until it comes to the blind.  That turns 
> my stomach!!!!  It sure doesn't help when any leaders of the federation 
> fail to reach out to conservatives because they feel more comfortable 
> being in bed with the socialist left.  To speak quite candidly, I was 
> sincerely hoping that our fight to get money to convert over to the 
> digital talking book program would have taught the lesson that we cannot 
> afford to ride the back of the tiger for fear of ending up devoured by it. 
> It seems, however, that this is not so.  Now look, just so I am not 
> misunderstood here, I personally couldn't care whether any individu
> al in the federation or on this list is a leftist, a socialist, an extreme 
> right wing person or what ever.  What I do care about is the fact that so 
> long as we do not face up to the fact that we're going to have to figure 
> out a better way to live for ourselves, we'll be looking for that check 
> every month which is supposed to assure us that we're being looked after. 
> I'm just wondering when enough is finally going to be enough.  What I look 
> forward to in this debate is not accusation after accusation, but rather, 
> healthy discussion about how we can rid ourselves of the entitlement 
> mentality and move in to something much better for us.
>
>
> Sincerely,
> The Constantly Barefooted Ray!!!!!
>
> Now a proud Mac user!!!!!
>
> E-Mail:
> rforetjr at comcast dot net
> Skype:
> barefootedray
>
> On Apr 19, 2010, at 8:32 PM, RyanO (by way of David Andrews 
> <dandrews at visi.com>) wrote:
>
>> I have been asked to circulate the following:
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> In October, 2008, a fellow Federationist and I were asked to reach out to 
>> the McCain campaign in hopes of persuading a representative to come speak 
>> at our monthly Denver chapter meeting on the topic of disability issues. 
>> We already had a rep from the Obama campaign in the person of one of our 
>> members, who was an official Obama surrogate. After several days of phone 
>> tag, I was informed that the McCain camp would not be sending a 
>> representative to speak to us. The reason I was given was because, "Obama 
>> was just too far ahead on disability issues."
>>
>> I and my fellow conservative blind friends were angry and hurt. We tried 
>> to give both sides equal time and felt we'd been told that we didn't 
>> matter. To that end, I felt I had two options. The first was to quit 
>> being a conservative and jump ship over to the other side. The second 
>> option was to get more actively involved and to make our voices heard on 
>> all levels. Anyone who knows me knows that option one was not an option.
>>
>> To that end, I have created a mailing list called, Brush Fires. It is 
>> primarily for blind conservatives so that we may form a network of 
>> communication and information. Let me stress that everyone is welcome on 
>> this list, no matter what their political stripe may be. In the spirit of 
>> the Federation, I believe that healthy debate and discussion fosters a 
>> more vibrant society for all of its members.
>>
>> Right now, the list is announce only. If we get big enough, I plan to 
>> turn it into a discussion mailing list. For more information, please 
>> Email me at
>> ryano218 at comcast.net
>>
>> Thank you for your time and attention.
>>
>>
>> RyanO
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nfb-talk mailing list
>> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-talk mailing list
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org
>
>