[nfb-talk] [NFB-talk] New List for Blind Conservatives

Tue Apr 20 18:45:04 UTC 2010

Hi all,

Leftist, liberal, socialist, and progressive as well as conservative and
"right wing" are words.  The fact is that these words have been used to
inflame and are not necessarily true or fair.

In our country today we are seeing a war of words escalate into anger and
downright polarization on a scale we have never seen before.  I and others
survived the attack at the World Trade Center and Pentagon to see our
potential to grow stronger be negated and even see our resolve disintegrate
along party lines.  Folks, it matters not our political leanings.  Knock off
the words and find ways to come together.  Stop calling each other names and
recognize that we all have a job to do.  In the case of the NFB it is to
promote the security, equality, and opportunity which all blind Americans
should have.

Mike Hingson

The Michael Hingson Group, INC.
     “Speaking with Vision”
                 Michael Hingson, President
                         (415) 827-4084
                   info at michaelhingson.com
                   www.michaelhingson.com

for info on the new KNFB Reader Mobile, visit:
http://knfbreader.michaelhingson.com

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Ray Foret jr
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 8:16 AM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] New List for Blind Conservatives

Just being honest.  That's all.

Sincerely,
The Constantly Barefooted Ray!!!!!

Now a proud Mac user!!!!!

E-Mail:
rforetjr at comcast dot net
Skype:
barefootedray

On Apr 20, 2010, at 9:39 AM, John G. Heim wrote:

> 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
>> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 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