[vhawk01]

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Is there some right to combustion engine powered cars that I'm not aware of?

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No. And there's no right to plastic bags.

This has nothing to do with the point that you're derailing, though.

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This is a little bit off topic and a slight hijack, but I didnt want to start a whole new thread just to make a comment. I was watching PTI today, and while this is probably inexcusable, I was also studying at the time and wanted something mindless in the background. So anyhow, they start talking about the Green Bay/Dallas game, and the situation with the NFL Network. It was at this time that I realized that you AC guys wont ever win. Or at least not any time even remotely soon.

Both Wilbon and Kornheiser were railing against the greedy, evil cable companies...so far so good, I suppose. But then they started explaining how it was completely unfair and that these cable companies were holding the viewers hostage, and victimizing them. They used both of those phrases exactly. And they were serious. Of course they are prone to hyperbole but in this exchange it doesnt make sense if its just hyperbole, it was central to their complaint that these cable companies were actually IN THE WRONG because they were holding fans hostage, and that something needed to be done about this.

So I talked to some of my (sports loving) friends about it. They feel the same way. Cable companies are out of control, what are they supposed to do? They cant afford a dish, and they deserve to see the game too. People honestly feel like they have a RIGHT just because they have a WANT. I understand the confusion between these two concepts when we are talking about, say, healthcare (understand, not agree with) because health is extremely central and important for most people and they misunderstand what a right to life means. But people legitimately feel VICTIMIZED and held hostage by cable companies because they wont provide them what they want. I dont see how this is surmountable in anything but the long, long term. People are incapable of listening to, much less trying to understand, the arguments you put forward here when they are laboring under the impression that they have a RIGHT to the Packer game.

Just to be clear, this rant doesnt apply to the statists who post here, it wasnt meant to insult you or try to paint your arguments or positions as childish and stupid. You guys have nothing in common with the PTI guys/all of my idiot friends/family, and you guys really DO understand or try to understand the points made on this thread. And you have many good arguments. I was simply extremely disheartened by this series of events.