Dear citizens of Open Salon and the Internets beyond: Aloha Kakahiaka and Mornin’ Y’all from Catnlion on the Right; Oahusurfer on the Left.

Neither of us go in for extremism or ideologues, in fact, we have a great deal in common, as do the majority of this great nation. We agree that a Patriot supports discussing all issues from all sides, and that everyone has something of substance to contribute to the USA's national conversation!

This posting is the first in a series meant to engender candid and honest discussion on OS between folks of all leanings. While we have planned this over the holidays for 2011, the events of recent days have made its importance, and its urgency, all too clear.

We encourage all comers and all comments from anywhere on the spectrum. As one of the purposes is to encourage civility, we ask that respect, manners and civil tone be evident when additional points are made to this “Point : Counter Point” format.

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E Komo Mai – Welcome, to the “Cat and Oahu Talk Left, Right and Race” series, Post Number One, The Introductions –

The Participants:

Catnlion

Male– Elon, NC

Age– 53

Children– 9

Grandchildren– 5

Early Life–

Rich Creek, VA. This is a small town in the country which is commonly known for being the location of the resort where the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed.

  

My mother and step mother were both teachers. My father was self-employed. He also served as the city manager for some local communities. The family was always involved in the local Republican party. As a child I remember our Congressman being at our house playing bridge. My wife recently found a box of childhood stuff my mother kept. In it was an autographed menu from the Capital Hill dining room where we ate.

  

Small game hunting, fishing. In the past loved to scuba dive.

Formal Education–

High School Diploma
Some College with a Business Major

Real Education (Work Experience)–

Mainly the restaurant business. I've owned/operated several quick serve restaurants. I've also owned a retail business which went online in 1995 and is still operating as an online only business. I also owned an accounting and tax practice. I'm currently in trucking as an owner/operator running in all 48 states and I'm leased to one of the top 50 trucking/3PL companies in the country.

Ideology– 

Fiscally Conservative, Socially Moderate. I still have some 70's free love beliefs.

Religion–

Raised Episcopalian, Acolyte. Now a believer who does not attend a formal service.

Military Background & Experience–

The family military experience goes way back. The family history showed that there were members serving on both sides during the American Civil War. During WWII our father was very badly wounded during a land mine explosion. He spent many years thinking he was the only survivor of the explosion. After several decades he found out there were actually two who survived.

I served from 77 to 85 in the Air Force working mainly in emergency rooms and flying Aeromedical Evacuation.

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Oahusurfer:

Male– Papakolea, Honolulu, Hawaii

Age– 50’s

Children– 2

Born– Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii

  

Early Life–

Hawaii, Southern California, US South 

  

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Point (Oahu): 

Stop, look at, and listen to the life of anyone you don’t understand and you will quickly see that good people are the same everywhere- we are only one race, the human race.

A race that currently finds itself determining our future in a web of communications full of debate and adjunct name calling, much of which is initiated by Frank Luntz’s firm, The Word Doctors, and funded by US billionaires, a prominent Australian and many Saudis.

Mr. Luntz, poller/politico extraordinaire, spends much of his time with small town folks and white suburb dwellers, conducting focus groups to determine which words to doctor, that is, which words will stoke fear and/or hate into a people who are worried and scared.

Luntz and The Word Doctors operate an extensive international service, finding the key hot words in each local dialect, then using them to influence elections from Ireland to Australia by crafting disprovable terminology, such as their classic- “Government Takeover,” and their latest- “Job Killing.”

A bunch of wealthy protectionists and sick propaganda artists selling everyone down the river for cash; here We the People find ourselves today, together, now more than ever.

The Internet, and now this web, given to us by the military but perfected by anti-war hippies, and that part is beautiful, has given us venues to discus this, including OS.

How can a country filled with coastal cosmopolitans and good, hard working folks in the middle, who get more sophisticated all the time, come together and buck off this same old divide and conquer strategy that puppet masters have used on us all for centuries?

This OS debate is about, “How can We the People come together against manipulation?” All comers are encouraged to weigh in. Engaged salon behavior is encouraged, constructive criticism and appropriate manners are expected … walk in others' shoes.

Aloha, Oahusurfer 

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Counter Point (Cat): 

My friend, Oahusurfer, grew up in a world that I as a child could only dream of. A land of sun, sand and surf. A life that I saw through the movies and of course Hawaii Five-O. My world is best expressed in songs such as John Denver's Country Roads (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWzeInQaUk4 ) and Hank Williams Jr's A Country Boy Will Survive (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4s0nzsU1Wg ).

Oahusurfer is right about so many things, but he only sees part of the story, he doesn't go far enough to get to the beginning. As the late great Paul Harvey was famous for saying, I'm here to tell you “the rest of the story”- which is how we will come together.

Spin. As I read this website I have to say that I sometimes get dizzy from reading the spin that is put on subjects. It's not new. It didn't start with Frank Luntz and The Word Doctors. In the forward to his book, Spin This, All The Ways We Don't Tell The Truth, Bill Press wrote in the introduction “There is no good definition of spin. It's easier to say what it's not than what it is: It's not the truth. Neither is it a lie. Spin lies somewhere in between: almost telling the truth, but not quite; bending the truth to make things look as good-- or as bad-- as possible; painting things in the best possible-- or worst possible—light.” I also opine that spin started with Adam and Eve.

The internet is a great place. It's free, until recently, of lots of government rules that limit our ability to read all sides. Oahusurfer sees Frank Luntz and rich people, I see Glenn Beck and Spookie Dude. Neither is the truth, neither is a lie.

Who here is willing to stop the top from spinning and read what is actually written on it?

Best Regards, Catnlion

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What do you think will best serve the dialog of the country? A Salon by definition is a place for discussion, not argumentation. All OSers are invited to suggest ideas for future posts, Lets Get Together for 2011 and beyond People!