It's A Free Country...Or Is It?

Our new site is based on the notion that here in the United States, you can express yourself however you want. Hey, It's a Free Country, right? But we also know that political discourse has reached a point where people are talking past, not to, each other. We've been asking our guest bloggers "What does the phrase mean to you?" and "What's broken in politics, and how do we fix it?" Now we want to hear from you! Take the Free Country survey below. You don't have to answer all of the questions, just tell us what's on your mind.

September 22, 2010 08:58:08 AM
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earthgirl

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not as much as it used too, I used to belive i was free to speak my mind. now the dept. of homeland securiy is in bed with the gas industry. Tom Ridge signs a $900,000 one year contract, PA homeland security makes a list, warns industry. It's a free country if you are a multi-national corporation? It's a free country if you want to turn rural farmland into industrial zones, feel free in this country to put the water and food chain at toxic risk in exchange for profits.

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The Balance power has shifted,really not a shift, but a landslide, to corporate america. Not just a political problem, but now a judicial problem, thanks to Bush/Cheney era politics.

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Hmmm. Government agencies should be held to their mandates. Paid lobbiest should be banned, citizen lobbiest should be encouraged. Transparancy, transparancy....

Science, real science, not quasi science when if some acutal truth gets into a gov't report, and is not in the corporate interest, is is redacted.

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September 21, 2010 06:20:35 PM
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Michael Cooper

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I disagree that we are a free country. If it was truly free all citizens would have their voices heard by their local, state and federal representatives, not just the special interests that donate millions upon millions to influence how the votes go. By equating money to free speech, the Supreme Court says that if you are a poor hardworking stiff with no money, you have no say.

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The obscene amount of given to politicians to influence voting and the partisan voting now going on. To call Congress the "United" States Congress is not correct.

It seems to me that everyone is out for their own self interest, and the hell with the next guy

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Public financing of all elections,free use of the commercial airways for ads, limiting the amounts of money to be spent for mailings and robo calls.

I acknowledge the difficulty in creating such a system, deciding who qualifies and who doesn't, but some type of overhaul is necessary

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September 21, 2010 04:50:24 PM
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Sunshine

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We're free to follow our beliefs, our passions and our dreams. We're free to share those ideas with others. It doesn't mean that we should beat someone over the head with what we have to say, or have the right to be 'ugly' to those that don't agree.

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1.Politics today is for the rich. They are the ones that have a pulpit because their money gives them access to the masses. Smart, passionate people that have great ideas have very little chance. 2.Politics today is for the lobbyists who represent the powerful, organized and rich - they don't represent me. 3. Politicians have to start building their campaign chest as soon as they get into office and have to spend too much of their time doing that vs. what they were elected to do for their constituents.

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1.Campaign Finance - Everyone should have the same amount of money to spend, end of conversation.
2. The power of Lobbyists is minimized by very tight regulations.
If there is reform of Lobbyists and campaign finance then politicians would not have to spend their time raising money vs. doing the work of congress.

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September 21, 2010 11:38:47 AM
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Sandy

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It means it is free to the gas drilling companies and the people who have signed leases to them, and the state who is going to pass a forced pooling law that forces me to be grouped with people who have signed leases. The gas companies can drill UNDER my property without my concent. The PA constitution says we have a right to clean water. The fracking method of getting gas out of the ground in PA has many dangerous chemicals that can and do get into the aquifers and they ruin our water for all time. Water is more important than gas. The state wants a severance tax where the money will be used to fill the hole in the state money. Will it be spent to help people have clean water? Will it make up the difference in my property devaluation because gas drilling has come to my state? This is very very wrong. We are not a free country.

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We have a propaganda station on the air 24 hours a day and we have a supreme court that has given the corporations free rein to spend as much as they want with no way to know where the money came from because the republicans voted that down. This country is going back to the dark ages. Our middle class is going away. The corporations will run everything. We are becoming a third world country. Why would republicans believe that you can outsource all american jobs and think a country can run on consumer economics? Duh! The Federal Reserve needs to go away. We need as a country to print our own money. Things were manipulated to take the greatest resources of the boomers before they retire and distribute it among the 10 top banks. And they got away with it. It is time to help Main Street. If the money had been given to everyone in the US. There would be trickle up economics. People would have paid for new cars, paid off their loans, paid their mortgages, and the trickle up theory would have helped everyone. Derivatives need to be outlawed. It is gambling. We need Elizabeth Warren.

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I not sure we can when you have half the country saying no to everything and not offering anything in the way of help themselves. Hypocrits.I am not a fan of people that cloak themselves in religion and make it a point to say that God is on their side. Jesus would wipe the floor with them. If they are following him, this is not what he intended.

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A place where each kind of group can get together and communicate with each other. I want all the people confronted with gas drilling in 34 states to be able to go to one place and get information on articles, what their state governments are doing and not doing. Give poor people a voice not just a vote.

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September 21, 2010 10:13:35 AM
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els

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As "news coverage" gets more removed from facts (save much on PBS & NPR) I sleep much better after spending a half hour w/Jon Stewart!
What ever happened to common sense anyway? I long for the days when editorials were noted at such.

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September 20, 2010 12:00:24 PM
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gary krasner

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Communication is broken. there are no forums for real debate. just demogoguery and dumbed down news programs, particularly cable TV news. In the mainstream TV news, there is also liberal bias----news with a pro liberal slant. I include NPR in that category.

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September 17, 2010 02:14:54 PM
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crrr12@verizon.net

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Freedom of all free speach, free religion, and freedom of expression, so long as nobody is hurt in the process.

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Demand that our values be enforced, lest they mean nothing to us and therefore we mean nothing around the world.

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Being willing to look at things from the other side. I am yet to hear of any person expressing a view of how we, in the USA, would feel if Mexico should buid a fence and state that it was to keep Americans out of their country. How would we feel, in Arizona for example?

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September 15, 2010 08:10:11 AM
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Michelle Maturen

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It means that we should do away with primaries, and instead have a general population wide vote for the two highest scoring candidates, who then run off in the final election.

I went to vote yesterday, and was told that I am ineligible, as I have not enrolled in a specific party. Thus, in primaries, we get the most fervent, extremist voters voting, and we exclude the more rational voters who refuse to declare allegiance to any specific party.

The result: we end up with the most radical candidates on the right and left--leaving the majority of voters--independent voters like myself--unimpressed with the candidates in the general election.

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5hort-term, narrow-minded thinkers (who don't acknowledge the breadth of issues facing our country), corruption, and short intervals between elections (making politicians more concerned with re-election rather than working for the public) prevent our political system from working efficiently and effectively.

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Prohibiting lobbying, corporate campaign financing, and pork spending would eliminate a significant amount of corruption in the American political sphere. Extending office terms from two years to four, and overturning the primary election system (as described above) would help get the most well-rounded, rational politicians in office who can look beyond short-term results to address our long-term prosperity.

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September 14, 2010 04:36:30 PM
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marvin schneider

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free to do as you please as long as you are not trampling on other people's freedoms

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Our politicians are bought and paid for by special interest money. Until & unless we get campaigne finance reform this country will get into deeper & deeper trouble & eventually collapse.The power to levy taxes should not be the domain of our corrupt congress.Those leaders who do not fight for reform are as guilty as the other scumbags in office by their silence.

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Get the lobbyists out of the halls of
congress by permitting them only in state offices of representatives.Taxing should be the domain of nonpartisan former experts in the field of economics.
Former elected officials should not be permitted to function as lobbyists as they are nothing more than influence peddlers prostituting themselves.

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Perhaps we should pay our congressmen more so that they do not have to sell themselves so cheaply to anyone offeringmoney.Change congressional house terms to four years so they are not out selling themselves to the highest bidders all the time.Campaign finance reform!!!!!!!

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September 14, 2010 12:34:15 PM
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Hugh Appet

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It's all about money. It costs too much to get elected. And naturally, a politician is going to influenced by those who can get them or give them enough money to get elected.

The other big problem is the media or what used to be called the press. They have grown too rich, self satisfied and lazy. And they are quasi celebrities.

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Aside from public financing of elections, I wanted to take Newt Gingrich's idea of some years ago to make a new Boystown and reverse it. Make a Congresstown. Make our representatives in Congress actually feel like servants and beggars. Let them live in dorms. Let them take turns doing laundry and cooking. Let them learn about the "dignity of work" they like to characterize minimum wage jobs as. And finally, they should not be paid more than the median income family of four.

They are public servants. They need to know what it means and feels like to be a servant.

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September 14, 2010 11:10:44 AM
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gdbayside

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the constitution

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too much money

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fixed number of free public service TV ads, and print ads, for each candidate, so no money is required

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the new paper ballots should give you a receipt, like an ATM machine. we have no way to confirm that the scanner worked.

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September 14, 2010 06:55:51 AM
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MMN

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It means I can formulate and voice my views without fear of imprisonment. It also means I am responsible for the effect my expressions have on others.

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To put it simply - selfish opportunists gaining power for their own profit; not acting for the greater good.

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Empower civic-minded action.
Re-brand "government" I know, what about something like "by the people, for the people." I like that.
Raise the status of teachers by 100 fold.

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Keep the dialogue open, respectful and fun. And consider the possibility, Brian, of a national show - seriously. The nation needs your kind of dialogue.

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September 13, 2010 06:12:31 PM
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Eileen

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It means that we have the ability and forums to discuss every subject openly and with no possible fear of recrimations.

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Washington is rendering itself ineffective due to the extreme levels of partisanship. Washington is also obliged, whether they admit it or not, to big business who help fund their campaigns. This makes it clear that corporations and their interests are considered before the rest of the country (the people).

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I would have campaign finance reform effected to eliminate the powerful corporations being 1st on the list of priorities.
I would cap the financing and number of lobbyists in Washington.
I would work to repeal the Supreme Courts recent decision to allow unprecedented influence of our political campaigns.
I would effect a line item veto.
I would extend congressional terms so that that could get more work done.

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I would encourage people to take a hard look at the cable networks that have a political agenda.
Rather than simply informing people, as they may have set out to do, they have settled into a different agenda.
They thrive financially on fanning the flames politically. They drive the United States electorate apart in a very angry and often misleading way.

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September 13, 2010 02:27:51 PM
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Bobbie

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It's simplistic but what comes to mind is that with freedom comes responsibility.

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Money in our political system is my top concern. Polarization is another.

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I'd like to see public financing of candidates, and reponsible politicians who work for country, not party.

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Where to begin? There's so much I want to say! I have to think!

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September 13, 2010 12:19:33 PM
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g.e.Taylor

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Opportunity.

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People (any and all categories) are expecting guaranteed goodies; very few want to settle for opportunity.

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Provide more fact / quantity rich information; don't rely on value laden narrative "stories" (usually story lines)
to make decisions/choices.

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See above.
What does it mean?
e.g.
"Healthcare" (or as it seems to actually be "Health Insurance")Policy

The discussion seemed to be totally consumed by arguments for results, that were not related to dollar costs or behaviors that would be required or prohibited.
Illustrations:

1) People should receive the same health insurance as their representatives in Congress.
No one ever mentioned the actual cost per Congressperson or the average cost for such coverage. (No sense stirring up greater voter unrest)
Question: How can anyone make a rational evaluation of that proposal without knowing the costs involved?

Indeed most of the debate on both sides had that kind of substance.

(BTW: The "Planet Money" productions on WNYC are the least offensive in this regard.)

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September 10, 2010 06:48:47 PM
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Don Hanlin

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Freedom must be reciprocal. Whatever freedom I have, you must have. It's a Quaker concept that makes a lot of sense. See David Hacket Fischer's book, Albion's Seed, for more on reciprocal freedom and the other three common perceptions of liberty and freedom from early American history.

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The U.S. Senate is the most dysfunctional part of the federal government. Local government (at least, in Indiana) is the most dysfunctional part of state government. Of course, the political party system has collapsed.

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Restore the Founders' concept of majority rule in the Senate. The filibuster violates the Constitution's provisions that require a majority of elected senators to pass laws and approve appointments by majority vote. We could use the state legislatures to do an end-run around Congress and amend the Constitution to require the Senate to vote on all presidential nominees for executive and judicial offices within 90 days of their nomination. We could also give the vice-president the power to call for a vote on any legislation that has been filibustered for 90 days. By leaving the ratification process open-ended, Democratic state legislatures could pass this amendment now when the filibuster hurts a Democratic president; Republican state legislatures could pass it when the Senate is blocking the actions of a Republican president.

As for local government, it's time to get rid of our Jacksonian system of counties and townships and consolidate levels of government and elected offices. Indiana's Indianapolis/Marion County could be an example for other cities and counties even though it has not done away with townships. Local government should have single-executives (elected executives or appointed managers) and vigorous legislative bodies. Everyone else should be appointed.

I see no hope for the return of vigorous political parties. Perhaps California has the right idea in establishing non-partisan primaries.

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Don't brag about yourself, like CNN. Everytime Wolf Blizter says "CNN, the best ...," I change channels.

Give all politicans some free passes on gaffes or poorly constructed sentences. Such mistakes are not news and concentrating on them does not enlighten the public. On the other hand, Sarah Palin could use some lessons in diagramming sentences. There has to be some kind of limit to murdering the language.

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September 10, 2010 06:29:27 PM
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alejand

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to me as an inmigrant living in this country for 30 years and loving it even before i came here. is having your future in your hands making of your life whatever you want not whatever you can speaking your mind without fear having almost the same rigths as the rich and powerful under the law is priceless and most inmigrants like me know what i'm talking about.

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the politicians serving the best interest of the people its no longer the case plain and simple.

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take the special iterest out of politics the lobbyst. an self serving politicians out of the bussines of the people.

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September 10, 2010 05:53:33 PM
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Frank Senger

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I think the concept of a "free country" is immaturely conceived by most Americans. I think they interpret it as they can do anything they want regardless of law or the responsibility to a social order and to other people. Thus the abundance of cheating on taxes, speeding and an anti-government sentiment.I believe people don't understand that "free" simply means we are not owned, enslaved, subjects or serfs and that we are still a country of laws. I feel that too many Americans feel that this former perception is their birthright.

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September 10, 2010 01:28:37 PM
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Darwin

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Freedom is never free. It must be fought for and protected. If freedom causes problems that impact others in the society, it must be considered.For example, if building a mosque that is purported to be a moslem cultural center that will upset people with relatives killed a ground zero, a new site should be established.

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What isn't! Mostly the fact that our elected officials cannot vote their conscience since they are obligated to the various corporations and special interests that have financed their election campaigns.

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Enact strict limits to amount of time and money that can be spent on compaigning.

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Provide a space where listeners can express their concerns on topics of the day that were not mentioned.

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September 10, 2010 11:34:58 AM
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Joe Fisher

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The needs of a collective controlling majority prevailing in their cultural mores, habits, religious views and mores.

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Manipulation of populist opinions to either left or right by exploiting people's genuine although naive trust. A growing shift to populism and mass culture opinions as manipulated by media ownership, so that media ownership is becoming the political power broker.

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Establish firm guidelines for media behavior and penalize outright lies such as "birthday of Obama" or artificial baseless poll results. I would like to see rules of engagement for political campaigns similar to the debate rules to create a level playing field.

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I would like an easier path to commenting on existing on air shows. I hurried to the computer to comment on the Kahn interview over Muslim POV for the center site and couldn't find it. I'm sure it's there but I couldn't find it within 10 clicks which is my threshold for giving up.

As far as the Kahn interview I think that more good has come out of it because my main criticism of Islamic leadership is that I never hear them and do not know who they are. I've never heard of this Imam up until this controversy and continue to feel that this is not a community effort but rather an individual peddling for financial support for an idea of his, which is perfectly OK, but I appreciate finally hearing this elusive "moderate Islamic voice."

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