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Glaucon, sorry to burst your bubble on this, but "The Boxer" wasn't written by Paul McCartney.

"I am just a poor boy.
Though my story's seldom told,
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocketful of mumbles,
Such are promises
All lies and jest
Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest."

Lyrics by Paul Simon, of Simon and Garfunkle (S&G), written in 1968; from the album, "Bridge Over Troubled Waters."

ve'hoe,

Two characteristics that separate liberals from the rest is they are more open minded and have more caring for their fellow beings. Thinking in an open minded, caring way is how to think and, perhaps what to think. The opposite of liberal is, of course, bigoted or closed minded.

Not all self labeling conservatives or Republicans are closed minded or uncaring, those characteristics and values are just not their highest priorities. Right wing extremists are characterized by closed mindedness and intolerance. And they would deny those definitions by claiming the
dictionaries have a liberal bias, which is not merely wrong, but delusional. I would say that the solution for those who believe the dictionary definition is wrong should, rather than changing the definition, might want to join a group whose label is to their liking and describes their beliefs.

I didn’t know anything about the conspiracy to demonize and downgrade the military. I am a combat veteran and I have taught elementary school, high school, college and grad school and I have never even once encountered the conspiracy you describe. Are you open to the possibility that your conspiracy is only in your mind?

YOU: Are you a politician? You never answered my question to you!
ME: I am not a politician. If you asked me a question and I didn’t answer it, I apologize and will answer it if you will give me the question, again.
YOU: You mouth off about the video was r****d but can't back it up!
ME: If you want to have a conversation, it is probably best that you not refer to my comments as mouthing off. The video was represented as a demonstration of the poor quality of students the U. of Maryland is turning out. I was merely pointing out that it wasn’t several questions needed to be answered before I could possibly be considered anything but a joke with pleasant pictures. If that isn’t clear, I don’t think any possible explanation, evidence, or rationale would have any value for you. However, if you are not aware of the obvious fact that this video is bogus I will provide you with the evidence that will attempt to clarify it for you. You haven’t appeared to be someone who asks questions, but more of a person who desperately wants to provide answers from his ideological perspective and avoid incoming information.

YOU: And what difference does what year of college they were in! They should have been taught that in grade school and high school!
ME: If their year in college doesn’t matter, why not reveal it? These people could be just entering college or they could be seniors and that should have some baring on how much they should know. They could also just be pretty people on the beach who dropped out of the 9th grade. Obviously, we would want all of our children to be taught and to learn critical thinking sk**ls, but some of those making comments on this site are totally lacking in these sk**ls and you seem to be one of them. Of course, I could be wrong.

You have a little known fact you know and no one else cares very much about. How do you think they would be better citizens if they did know that fact?

The has been much criticism of our schools and universities for requiring the memorizations of a bunch of facts, most of which are irrelevant and or questionable, instead of teaching them to think.

You may have noticed that the majority of comments on this site strongly suggest an absence of critical thinking sk**ls? The lack of critical thinking sk**ls together with some more or less true facts seems to cause much emotion in people who have not been educated to think for themselves.