Posted on 09/30/2004 10:05:49 PM PDT by rit
Slashdot (a geek site) has a new political section with a story about Senator Alleges White House Wrote Allawi's Speech. Near the top is a post stating:
Letters from Iraq (Score:5, Interesting)
by asciiwhite on Thursday September 30, @11:26PM (#10401265)
Letter from a US soldier Why We Cannot Win by Al Lorentz
Before I begin, let me state that I am a soldier currently deployed in Iraq, I am not an armchair quarterback. Nor am I some politically idealistic and naÃve young soldier, I am an old and seasoned Non-Commissioned Officer with nearly 20 years under my belt.....
(Excerpt) Read more at politics.slashdot.org ...
Before I begin, let me establish my credentials, I am not a liberal, I am a staunch conservative (not a neo-con), I am a former Marine Sniper and later I served nearly 10 years as an Airborne Ranger in the National Guard.
I am obviously against the Bush family war but not because I don't think we can win (I know we can win).
Looks like slashdot got rathered....
thin-weenie-one-nut has always been politically, well, anarchistic at best. i saw the post earlier and just figured that it's in keeping with much of the noise generated there.
How did they get Rathered? Is Al Lorentz not a solider?
Hell, you should see the crap that flies around computer and network security lists. The whole flawed electronic voting situation with Diebold is being blamed on the Republicans in general or George W. Bush in specific. I called some people on their obvious partisanship and they essentially had their period in public because I (get this) questioned their patriotism.
So don't be so suprised that politics.slashdot.org is a watering hole for Leftists and Bush bashers. That's as natural as little green apples.
>>Conservatives are not typically welcomed in high tech geek circles.
Must be the location. My co-workers are conservative to a-political/moderate. No flaming libs I know of. And I work for a software/ASP firm.
Story posted on /. says we cannot win. Other link (from same author) says we will win. Either one is a forgery, or the author is Kerried (prone to flip-flopping)....
Must be location indeed. In the Silicon Valley, it is this way. In Southern California, it is this way. In Denver, it is this way. On all major security mailing lists across the world, it is this way.
Hell, take a look at MoveOn.org. Launched by Silicon Valley's nouveau rich (and turbo-Red) millionaires. Show me any Conservative activist who's done as much in the high tech field who wasn't previously established in another non-tech field first. 'Cause I've been looking around for the powerhouse equivalent of MoveOn in the Republican/Conservative side and I ain't seein' it.
As it stands, I'm one of only two conservatives I know in computer and network security circles. The other one lives in Pennsylvania.
/. is an interesting site, but if you want intelligent viewpoints on poltics, look elsewhere... your average "geek" tends to be the intellectual type that thinks themselves in circles and right out of reality..
Hmm, I can't say I agree with that statement. I recieved my BS in Computer and System Engineering and I'm current pursing a PhD in EE. My friends and I are about as nerdy / high tech as you can get. Not only at work but at home (watercooled machines, random robotics projects, modifed tivo's, directional 802.11b antennas, etc). You are as likely to find us working on some new electronic or software project on a given weekend as any other activity.
We are almost entirely conservative. I have found the same to be true of tech people I know at work. Not so for the managment at high tech companies though...
There are liberals in the high tech geek circles, but they are typically not the ones that create the technology. For example people that hang out on slashdot but simply enjoy watchings shows from their tivo, computer, or playing the newest video game. All of which my (conservative) friends were probably involved in designing. (I have friends currently working at Intel, Electronic Arts, etc - and have heard few complains about liberals from any of them - but believe me I would if they had them).
-paridel
I'm here in Sunnyvale. Been working in Semiconductor Capital equipment for ten-years ... it is not all one way or the other.
/. is interesting for some of the submissions, but ALL of the comments are pretty much devoid of intelligent viewpoints, not just the ones for politics.slashdot.org. Some years ago that wasn't true, but the decent posters have all moved on to better places.
-paridel
Was in. The firm I worked for tanked in July 2001 in the wake of the dot-com bust. I worked in Sunnyvale and San Jose. Now I work in Los Angeles.
I'm here in Sunnyvale. Been working in Semiconductor Capital equipment for ten-years ... it is not all one way or the other.
What precisely do you do? As I mentioned, my experience is in the computer and network security field.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.