Starr wasn't hired, he was appointed? I think he got paid and I fail to see the difference.
When they found nothing in Arkansas, they over-exercised their authority and went after sex!
If Clinton had been found guilty for lying about sex, we would have been the laughing stock of the world!
My word, just think of the lies Bush has told in 6 years!
As to the Florida vote, the problem is that the Florida Supreme Court was ignored by the republican supreme court who took away the state supreme court's right to decide on state elections!
They should never have heard the case once decided by FL supremes.
Terrible precedent for the future. Will bite the republicans one day, badly.
Tennessee happens to be a republican state. Gore had the misfortune of being born there.
As to socialism, we don't have quite enough of it yet. We need capitalism in cut throat businesses, but not in how we run the Army; not in transportation; not in natural resources; not in tariffs and government financing; and a few other critical national needs.
The competition in business is needed for new innovations where the probability of getting rich serves our purposes, but capitalists just screw up our health needs, natural resource conservation, old age treatment, common and poor people.
Don't associate Communism with partial socialism!

Dalmation, I disagree with most of what you said, but one thing just begs to be answered. You blame our failure to go into Iraq with sufficient force on the liberals. That's nonsense. Bush was not afraid of offending anybody, he was listening to Rumsfeld, who grossly underestimated the difficulty of occupying Iraq. He was NOT listening to "the bedwetting liberals" AT ALL, which was part of the problem. Good leadership consists of listening to all sides of a problem, then choosing a winning plan. Bush has failed to listen to those who disagree with him, and now we all are paying the price.

Why is it that you right-wingers have to resort to labels like "bedwetting"? Is it to compensate for your own self-doubts? Just stick to the issues and make your points based on fact. I totally agree with you that we failed to go into Iraq with sufficient force. There is enough to discuss about current events that you don't have to keep going back to Clinton's infidelity, but you cling to that affair like a security blanket. That was 10 years ago!! Meanwhile, the situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate, and Al Queda continues to grow stronger. What do you propose to do about that?

Personally, I think we need to scale back our forces in Iraq, perhaps concentrate on just holding Bagdad, or perhaps withdraw altogether from Iraq and concentrate on solidifying our hold on Afghanistan. That's not surrender, that's choosing our field of battle. I'll admit that I don't know for certain what is the best course of action, but it is very obvious that the current strategy is NOT working.
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The real truth is simple--it's lies that are complicated.

out what will happen in the region? If the house of Saud is threatened we will be back.

I'd be lying if I said I knew for sure what the result of our withdrawal from Iraq would be. Neither does anybody else. It depends on the nature of our withdrawal. I'm not proposing to just yank our troops out abruptly, but to scale back to a sustainable level. Find some ground we can hold, and hold it. But the current situation has us spread out all over Iraq, with insufficient forces to really control the entire country. Also, the political situation in Iraq is complete chaos, which does not lend itself to any long-term solution.

What I'm really concerned about is that the situation in Afghanistan has started to back-slide. The Taliban is trying to make a comeback. This is a situation that we should nip in the bud, while we can.

In other words, let's fix the things we can, and let's have the wisdom to recognize the things we can't fix. We can't fix Iraq until their political situation has worked itself out one way or the other. Meanwhile, we might as well let the Sunnis and Shiites fight it out between themselves. No point in keeping American troops in the middle of a crossfire between warring factions. It is not accomplishing anything, and it is actually strengthening Al Queda.
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The real truth is simple--it's lies that are complicated.

I'm struggling, no I'm torn by this. Please someone show me the pre war analysis of this exercise showing all the different scenarios that could occur and the price of each. I have to believe this was done.

Ever wonder why we never talk about The house of Saud and Saudi (sunni) support for sunnis in Iraq? We seem to only speak ill of shiite support of shiites (from Iran). Why the one-sided reporting and tuff talk? If you are suggesting that sectarian civil conflict might begin if we leave Iraq, those horses have left the gate and they've been kicking, clawing, and biting eachother for three years now. Are you suggesting, cyclist, that we quietly accept this $6 billion a week expense and this rate of death and maiming for an eternity? Or is it time to seek another course?

Kevin "Hack" King

OK, the house of Saud is not liked by a lot Saudis. My concern is the vacuum caused by our departure might sweep in new and unforeseen dynamics in the region. For example, if civil war occurred in Saudi Arabia who would we support? I though the whole idea of this exercise was to bring stability to the region. Maybe I was wrong.

I think none of us are wrong and we won't know what is right until it's tried and it works. The middle east makes the rubic's cube look simple to solve. I'm just glad we have people who care enough to think about it and not just sweep the issue under the rug. Hey, off the subject, do you shave your legs? Is this a TMI moment?

Kevin "Hack" King

No, never did. That's reserved for animals riding in The Tour de France today.

We’ll have no choice but to actively support whomever controls the oil.

Unlike Iraq, the house of Saudi is vital to the U.S. because of our oil consumption.

See U.S. oil import stats here.

Canada (19%), Mexico (15%), Saudi Arabia, (15%) and Venezuela (12%) account for approx. 62% of our oil imports.

Remember, that’s just our oil imports. Saudi Arabia supplies 44% of all oil imports to Europe.

“Western Europe (defined as European countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development - OECD) averaged 2.8 million bbl/d of oil imports from the Persian Gulf during 2006, a decrease of less than 0.1 million bbl/d from 2005. The largest share of Persian Gulf oil exports to Western Europe came from Saudi Arabia (44 percent), with significant amounts also coming from Iran (33 percent), Iraq (13 percent), and Kuwait (7 percent).”

If all heck breaks out in Saudi Arabia, most of Europe will be fighting for it as well. That doesn’t automatically mean that they’ll be fighting “with” us either.

A fight in Saudi would get real UGLY real FAST!

correct. Battles have been fought over resources.

I concur. And here's the scary part: Saudi Arabia is to radical Islam like Georgia is to right-wing Republicans. Ask any military person who was deployed over to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf war or since then. We may have the Saudi government on our side, for money reasons, but the average Saudi citizen is hostile to western civilization, and suspicious of Americans in particular. More so now than ever.

That's one reason why I'm not in favor of just yanking out of Iraq. What we need is a new strategy that works. To use a football analogy, let's say you are playing a football game, and your offense plays the first half by mostly running the ball up the middle. Unfortunately, the other team has a really good defensive line, and at halftime, you have only gained 8 yards on the ground, but you have gained 65 yards in the air. You are behind by two touchdowns. Do you tell your team to "stay the course" or do you go out into the second half and try more passing, maybe some razzle-dazzle plays? I think our current situation in Iraq is that we are already in the third quarter, and we are behind by two touchdowns. Do we "give up" the war on terror? Of course not, but we adjust our strategy until we turn the game around. The war in Iraq was a bad idea and a losing strategy, but it is just one battle. The choice is not between "stay the course" and "quit".

I agree with the right-wingers that radical Islam has declared war on western civilization and we have no choice but to fight. We DO have a choice of WHERE to fight. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has dug their heels in on Iraq. I predict that by September, the overwhelming majority of Republicans AND Democrats will force a major change in direction, but the war on terror WILL continue.
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The real truth is simple--it's lies that are complicated.

It never got much attention, but a few years ago one of the big neo-con ideas was to internationalize the Saudi oil wells and separate the oil from the 40,000 member family "kingdom." Basically, make the "royal family" fend for themselves because some neo-cons felt they were breeding terrorists(obviously that part is true)and just having access to Saudi oil wasn't enough to keep overlooking the realities of Saudi Arabia. I believe it was Paul Weyrich that originally floated that idea.

NUK

Oval office kitchen is sacred? WOW!
That place has been a hangout for all kinds of chicanery.

But Dollar doesn't read long replies -- they're just too taxing.

He really doesn't read short replies either. He just starts a new blog with his ramblings.

He may reply, but it won't make much (if any) sense.

You're right about socialism and the Titanic analogy -- just see how popular Sicko is. The facts about the real situation in Britain and Canada will be called lies and ignored.

Wowzers Denise! You've really lowered the bar for receiving your coveted "good response" honor. Let me dive into this "good response." First, I'll need a full-up dry suit: zip, zip, snap.

allrighty then. First given: Dollar's post was hard to follow, but, I believe, more substantive than the standard conservative "you're a bedwetting liberal" retort. As a matter of fact, when I see bedwetting liberal from here on out, I'll respond with prostitute-hiring conservative. You see, liberals and conservatives have some bed-wetting members. And some conservatives and liberals hire prostitutes. So I'll just use this analogy, as dalmation has, to my liking.

Okay, Dalmation on Iraq:
"The situation has not gone as well as it should have." Is that the couched language they described the Hindinberg's flight with? Some might say Iraq has been a debacle: No progress, Al Qaeda stronger than ever, too many dead and wounded Americans with too little to show for it (eg, nothing to show)

Dalmation suggests we should "go into battle full force and make peace in the region." Yes, yes. If we had just killed more people and caused more damage in the country without WMD which was not linked to 9/11, this would have turned out peachy. If that makes since to you, Dalmation, I guess that's all that matters.

But alas, it was liberals' fault anyway because "bedwetting liberals can't have anyone getting a hangnail while in custody."

Dalmation, lean in close to your monitor. You seem to be a serial minimizer. Liberals saw Abu Ghraib as more than a hangnail. We saw it as a tragic abuse of human life which caused us to lose hearts and minds all over the world. That you equate it to a hangnail exemplifies why conservatives and their "principles" of late are losing national support and losing us international cooperation.

Last short points: Some liberals site Florida elections, some conservatives site 9/11 to make political hay. Both are WRONG.

Liberals are for a socialist agenda? I, using your logic, will say conservatives are for corporate power and greed unabated, unatenuated, even to the detriment of the common good. Is that accurate? No. Is it equal to your argument? Yes.

LAst beauty: Bill Clinton should have not "shamed his family?"

If he had only thrown them away like Giuliani did twice, McCain did once, and Gingrich did twice, he could have had the respect of conservatives everywhere. When will liberals learn to just throw the spouse away after the affair? Oye!

Kevin "Hack" King

A Few Favorite Brazilian Portuguese Expressions
Adapted From: Portuguese For Dummies

Say Fala sério (fah-lah seh-dee-oh) to mean You're kidding! or You're joking! or No way!

Brazilians also say Não acredito! (nah-ooh ah-kdeh-jee-toh; I can't believe it!) in the same situations.

But Fala sério has a funnier tone to it. It literally means Talk seriously.

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"Wowzers!"

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Hack, let me say, “Good Response” to you for the enthusiasm that you put into your posts. I didn’t realize that my OK’s are so coveted, or that receiving one is such an honor. Thank you.

I wanted to encourage Dalmation to continue posting. (I don’t recall seeing many posts from him or her.) Also, Dalmation might not realize Dollar’s typical “style” (which could not be described as "substantive" under any circumstances).

the standard conservative "you're a bedwetting liberal" retort – I missed that “cute” phrase. I fail to understand its use, but, then, there are a lot of other things that males do that I don’t understand, such as kick-boxing someone in the head, or bazooka-ing (?) a car (Gump’s link – shooting clay “pigeons” seems much more sane to me – no living creature gets hurt), or mass slaughter of cute little prairie dogs (Bad PTC’s link – which didn’t work on my computer, so I missed the gore).

prostitute-hiring conservative – That’s another thing that I don’t understand. How much smarts does it take to know that behavior will come back to haunt you and will cost you A LOT. If you won’t keep your promises to your wife, then how naive are supporters who blindly believe that you’ll keep your campaign promises? You can see my other post for more on this subject.

nothing to show in Iraq – Have any terrorists been killed there? Do any Iraqis have a better life now?

the country without WMD – Hindsight is 20/20, isn’t it?

Abu Ghraib = a tragic abuse of human life – There are always a few bad apples in the barrel, but those crimes are not reflective of the vast majority of servicemen.

IED’s = a tragic abuse of human life.

Beheadings = a tragic abuse of human life.

Car bombings = a tragic abuse of human life.

Look at the whole picture, not just one page of a 1000+-page album.

Liberals are NOT for a socialist agenda? Please support that. “Universal” health care = socialized medicine. Income “redistribution” = socialism. SOCIAL Security = socialism. Minimum wage = socialism.

the common good – Sounds so noble, doesn't it?

"Concerning contemporary American politics, the common good language is increasingly identifiable with political actors and activists of the progressive left [i.e., liberals]."

"The Take Back America Conference, the liberal magazine The Nation, and the Rockridge Institute have identified the common good as a salient political message for progressive candidates."

I believe that what's good for the individual is generally the "common good."

I'm sure you support the Marines associated with an incident in Haditha, Iraq, don't you? I know that Murtha proclaimed them guilty of worse things than reported in Time, even before an investigation, but you believe in "innocent until proven guilty," don't you? The treatment of these Marines, especially Murtha's condemnation, is "a tragic abuse of human life."

"Three brave Marines urgently need your help."

So, you see conservatives do support the troops, as well as the war against terrorists.

How do you do it. How are you able to put together such long posts so early in the morning? What your secret? Is it coffee or what?

By the way I apologize about my Islam Conquest post last night. I re-read your earlier post and you had covered that ground.
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Caution - The Surgeon General has determined that constant blogging is an addiction that can cause a sedentary life style.

I should heed the SG's warning more!

I use WORD to keep up with articles that I find interesting and to type responses that I can't finish until later (which happens a lot). Cut-and paste -- GREAT invention!

Got any words of your own, simply from your past experience?

Got any words of your own simply from your past experience?

Still don't remember Dr. Denise?

Betty Hutton in a cheap western! But I thought you were a sheriff.
Did you sell kickapoo joy juice ro the Semihole Indians?

Are you calling me cheap?

I may be a sheriff, too, but I'd not "sell kickapoo joy juice" to anyone. I'd lose my license if I did.

Nicely Done!!! I'm going to try that. But first, I'm going to take a break and go for a run. It's a nice afternoon in DFW today. Keep up the good work!!!!

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Caution - The Surgeon General has determined that constant blogging is an addiction that can cause a sedentary life style.

Are you or some kin somehow connected to Pharmacueticl houses, doctors, doctor's office managers, insurance companies, or others in the industry ( I mean racket).

Surely you remember Dr. Denise?

My job's not a racket; that's what I use on the tennis courts.

I make lots of money because I spent LOTS of time and money for my education, and I spend LOTS of time with patients. Don't you remember?

Are you or some kin somehow connected to Pharmacueticl houses, doctors, doctor's office managers, insurance companies, or others in the industry ( I mean racket).