The only difference between him and the rest of them is he got caught... but of'course being rich and connected, he was able to avoid the felony record and prison sentence any of us would have received. I've always held to opinion that anyone who gets elevated by either of the political parties is already in bed with the devil so to speak.. otherwise they wouldn't even get on the ballot.
Hurray for the French! The French, defending their secular society from attack by religious groups, whatever the stripe, has determined that the burka is not acceptable attire in their country. Having done that, the Islamic extremists have now vowed to strike. Rather than backing down in the face of this threat, the French have simply heightened their state of preparedness for attack. This is how I believe western democracies should respond in the face of threats- with lawful, reasoned, resistance. There is no reason to allow religious extremists to dictate the direction of our social development- whether they are Islamic, Christian, Jewish, or otherwise. __________________ And, for the same reasons, I respect the British for standing by Salmon Rushdie, when a "fatwa" was issued against him for his writings. Sometimes, the only alternative left to us is to face threats with courage, trusting in the principles on which our democracies were founded, those two hundred or so years ago....
Going after OBL and his network Remarkable how easily the American people accepted that the man who inspired the World Trade Center attacks went uncaptured. President Bush was initially strong on talk when it came to this subject, saying we'd "smoke him out" and other things he'd learned from watching television. But, when presented the chance to capture Osama Bin Laden, in the early days of operations in Afghanistan, when OBL had been located in the Tora Bora Mountains, he did not order the effort made to pursue him; instead, with an eye on the Taliban and what looked like their imminent capitulation, an informal cease fire was ordered in an attempt to induce them to give up the fight and give us a quick victory in Afghanistan: there was a three day pause in the dramatic bombing campaign we had all watched on television, allowing Bin Laden time to slip across the border into the Tribal Areas of Pakistan. The fighting in Afghanistan all but ceased, allowing the President to consider Afghanistan a mission accomplished, but leaving us with the incomplete victory we are still struggling to finally accomplish. Over time, President Bush ceased referring to OBL, and there is no public clamor for action to achieve this goal today, Americans perhaps too dispirited by setbacks at war, and domestically, to care much. But now, under the new and more determined approach adopted by President Obama, the U.S. has begun to launch significant operations into Pakistan, with several helicopter raids, recently, into the Tribal Territories. Gen Petreus is said to be agitating to get the Pakistanis to take more aggressive action in this part of their country, perhaps laying the groundwork for the U.S. to do it, in their place, if they don't step up to the plate. Because of our increasing boldness in striking across the border, we may yet see the day when Osama Bin Laden is killed, or captured, something that should have occurred eight years ago. ________________________
Didn't last long.... The policy of making armed excursions into Pakistan may prove short lived. Gun happy helicopter pilots fired on a Pakistani Army checkpoint, killing six Pakistani soldiers, and causing the Pakistani Government to react by closing the border to our supply convoys which are routed overland, by permission, from the port at Karachi, to Afghanistan. We often say we are proud of our young troops, and just as often they do something stupid, which only makes the U.S. look that much worse to the rest of the world; or, as in this case, greatly complicates the mission. See video, below. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68T1SQ20101001 ______________________
Geez, I think you are reaching here, Bud. McCain was/is capable as a Presidential candidate but Palin??? I'm not being sarcastic when I say that I wouldn't hire her as a receptionist. I mean she's cute but I would be terrified of what she might say to customers. For starters I'm sure they would think, "Is the rest of the people at that company as dumb as she is?". Is she dumb? You bet. Dumb by the standard of a world leader. She needs to compartmentalize the world. Everything has to be black and white, good and bad. No shades of gray. 360 million people and that is the best you have to run the country? I can understand someone being upset with the policies of the Democrats. More accurately, with the perception they have of their policies. I think the Democrats absolutely suck at getting their message out there. But absolutely nothing would ever convince me to give her my vote as the President of the most power nation on Earth. Anti-military is an interesting observation. I heard recently that the U.S. spends annually on the military as much as the next 27 nations spend put together. And 26 of them are allies. That's nuts! You have to start looking at that seriously. Without being accused of being Anti-American. There are a lot of people making a lot of money off the military machine. And a lot of good young people dying.
Sorry Brewster, but I don't think Palin is stupid. I don't like her policies, but I don't think she's stupid. As for supposed intelligence, our last two Presidents have both been Yale graduates and I don't know if we could ever put together two worse Presidents in a row. As for dumb, you may want to check out the wit and wisdom of Joe Biden. This doofus certainly rivals Palin for dumb comments. Add to it the level of corruption that Biden has for his history and I'd have to say that our current VP is no better than Palin's equal in the foot in mouth area. As for the Democrats getting their message across, it actually did come across loud and clear. That's the reason there are 60 less of them in the House of Representatives right now. Their message is to reward the lazy and take from the productive. Their message is to spend what you don't have on programs that you don't need. I think their message was heard big time and most of this country said we don't want to hear it again.
rdubnpk Not stupid, but uninformed and perfectly happy to remain that way. I think we all have learned that the Republican faithful respond well to small phrases and platitudes repeated, the more often the better. She has perfected the ability to say nothing of any true consequence but to say exactly what the crowd wants to hear, the true definition of a politician. So, stupid, no. Little more than fluff, absolutely.
Well, I would agree with this, in general. I think it’s important to note that there is a difference between being skilled at the requirements of getting elected and being capable of actually leading the country and making wise decisions. That's what I meant by "dumb" by the standard of world leaders. She is not bright enough to hold her own with other world leaders. What 4biddenpleasrs said earlier is bang on. "She's anti-gay, anti-abortion, doesn't believe global warming is man-made, and I'm pretty sure anti a few other things, and is ruled by her religion." I can live with a leader who has a personal relationship with his/her god, but a leader who would look to religious doctrine or divine inspiration in making important decisions of State scares the hell out of me. Think of it this way, would you want your surgeon to be “one of us” down home folksy, not particularly well schooled in medicine but with the faith that God will provide the answers if he/she runs into any problems during the procedure?
