... between democrat and asshole.
See, one of my friends, a long-time democrat, is very open-minded, allows discussion, and doesn't mind people joking around with her... she even thinks "babykiller" as used to describe a pro-abortion person is funny. She's generally pleasant to be around, although highly misguided. That is a democrat.
Now, my comp sci teacher started talking about how we have the biggest deficit EVAR!!!LOLOMG!!!11, and he said kerry would fix that. I said how? He said, kerry can fix it. I said, well, why not just reduce spending? He says, how? I say, cut social programs. He says, "Cut social programs?! That's terrible!" (by the way, I should mention that my lines are what I could squeeze in between his shouting me down. He literally shouted his argument constantly)
"There are so many wasteful and poorly managed ones out there. Social security is going bankrupt. Welfare doesn't work. The National Endowment for the Arts is a terrible thing to have as a government organization. And kerry wants to add socialized medicine, which has been shown in countries like Britain and Canada not to work." So he laughs at me, and gets on how the House voted to repeal the DC gun ban and how the AWB expired. and "why do you need an assault weapon? You can't use an AK-47 to hunt. Why would anybody need an AK-47?" Well, now I'm pissed.
"First, for fun. Semi-auto rifles are very fun to shoot. Also, you can hunt deer with an AK-47," I say. He snorts, and says "pshyeah, right, because you really need to send 150 rounds at a deer to hunt."
"Do you know what the assault weapons ban regulated?"
"What, then?"
"Cosmetic features that did nothing to alter the operation of the gun. It didn't do anything about machine guns, which have been heavily regulated since 1934."
"Cosmetic features?" he says. "Yes, cosmetic features on pistols, rifles, and shotguns," I reply.
"Well, what do you need a pistol for? You gonna say target shooting?"
"Self defense." "Oh, there it is. You're afraid, that's why you need your gun, because you're afraid." "I'm not afraid. I feel safe, this is a safe area. However, why shouldn't we have the ability to defend ourselves?" "You're afraid. Tell me, why does Canada have the same amount of handguns that we do, but a lower murder rate?" "First, they have a lower number of handguns, legal handguns are very hard to acquire. Second, there is a different culture here than there."
"Yeah, here our culture's afraid. They need their guns so they won't be afraid."
"Why should the government be able to prevent ourselves from using self defense? I should be able to carry a handgun because there is always the possibility of being attacked. If I cannot defend myself with a firearm, and somebody corners me demanding my wallet, my body, my life, how am I supposed to protect myself?"
"See, you're afraid. Me, I don't need a gun to protect myself."
"Okay, fine, I'm sure that whenever you get mugged there will be a policeman there in a second, and that you will be able to dial for him without getting attacked by your assailant. No, I'm not afraid, this is a safe area, but why should the government prevent ourselves from an effective means of defense?"
"You feel safe here, yeah, because I can't just come up and hit you with a 2x4, because its illegal."
"Criminals, by definition, do not obey the law. They commit rape and murder and theft and arson, all of which are illegal, but you expect them to obey gun laws?"
At which point he started explaining about while-loops, so I shut up for a while. Anyway, to turn in our programs, we have to bring them up on a USB drive or on a floppy, and I left my USB drive at home, so somebody kindly let me borrow theirs. I go up and say, "you never answered my question. If criminals disobey every other law, why will they obey gun laws?" The lone other conservative in the class says to me, "you don't argue with the teacher when he's collecting your assignments, dumbass, he could mess up your program and disk."
"Well, in that case, I could get him fired, but it's not my disk anyway, it's *points* that guy's."
So, of course, Mr. Dingus has to say, "it's not your disk? So you're using a social program, the kind you want to cut?"
"No, it's not a social program, it's more like a private charity, not government-funded nor government-owned."
"See, if that social program wasn't there, what would you have done?"
"Well, I would have--"
"You would have what? SHOT the program?"
"What? That doesn't make any sense! No, I would have got another friend to loan me a disk, or found a connecting cable."
See, now THAT guy is an asshole.