COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, March 24, 2008

So? 5 Years - 4000 Dead - $600 Billion Burned - 2/3 Americans Opposed. So?



Trish said:
Mon Mar 24, 01:25:00 AM EDT

...We can't leave because - why? Because due to our efforts the ME has become something other than a running sore of nursed grievance and bloody violence, something other than a collection of "inbred retarded peoples" wasting our time, effort, and treasure for years on end?

One giant "gaza sh*thole" don't bother me none. Grand social engineering projects that engage the military without hope or promise of end, do.

Seeing as how we're not leaving, however, one would think you have little cause for such high dudgeon. The expression of a little genuine satisfaction might be in order, hm?..."



Dick Cheney in 1994

143 comments:

  1. Ain't a little inbreedin a requirement for membership in these here parts?

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  2. Cheney's just practicing representative democracy at its best--avoiding the ebb and flow of the mindless crowd, being responsible for the greater good of the republic. That's the spin his public relations officer should take, if Cheney would hire a public relations person, who would see to it that he doesn't always shoot his or someone else's mouth off brazenly.

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  3. Hey, isn't McCain your man? The man who said the violence was too high in Iraq to leave and now that the violence is lower, well, obviously, we can't leave because of that. Go McCain, Go!

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  4. Ash. Here's a secret you heard here first. McCain would get us out of Iraq faster than Hillary or Barack.

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  5. Looks to me like he shot him right square in the head!

    China has already won the Gold Medal In Tyranny and the Games haven't even begun.

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  6. Bob, I never thought of that. He could have been the target. Now that would be a story.

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  7. Not unless you accept putting troops into Iran as leaving Iraq.

    McCain seems to be a straight talker and he appears to mean what he says. He has been adamant that failure in Iraq is not an option and unless he is willing to bend all meaning out of 'success' there will be no winning in Iraq. It will take McCain longer then most to come to that realization - that we cannot win in Iraq.

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  8. Depends on the definition of winning.
    Iraq's not a threat to its neighbors. It was.
    Saddam and Sons are gone.
    The Kurds aren't being slaughtered.
    The marsh arabs are returning home.
    The violence is down.
    They got a legislature.
    They're skilled at sucking money out of us.
    Bombs still go off periodically.

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  9. I'll post This for Ash, and save him the trouble. It's all bad, says the writer. And some of it is, to be sure.

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  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. Pat Buchanan, Charlie Pena, Ted Galen Carpenter, Ron Paul and I wrote that over some fine Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon last night. The subject-verb agreement suffers, but the spirit is unimpeachable.

    Next up: John McCain and I break out the Argentinian Merlot and have a not unfriendly little chat.

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  12. Ash said:
    It will take McCain longer then most to come to that realization - that we cannot win in Iraq.

    Ash, would you enlighten us as to what is going to happen to/in Iraq? Also, if you would, please give us an idea of how you see the future unfolding in the Middle East and South Asia given the alternate scenarios of the US leaving Iraq in the next 3 years as well as staying there more long term.

    Perhaps we could do a guest post.

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  13. I don't find Cheney's "So?" to be that offensive. Sure, he could responded to the statement a little more diplomatically but I would like to see the broader context of the interview before I pass judgment.:) (Works both ways doesn't it?)

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  14. Whit, I think all of us would be mighty impressed with the roll-out of some actual strategy on the part of McCain. We've had none from the administration for years (sweeping rhetoric and stale platitudes do not a strategy make). It would signal the serious intent to get a move on, to begin thinking beyond the range-of-the-moment and the mere imperatives - impediments, rather - of politics and pride. (Not even Clinton and Obama have done this in a way that engages reality.) Strategy is, after all, a blueprint for what we can do, not what we can't.

    And it's the can't that has been emphasized for, oh, three years.

    McCain badly needs some blue ribbon foreign policy guidance. Because the tar baby in't gonna unstick itself.

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  15. Given the politically correct atmosphere, the divergent viewpoints of our intelligence agencies and the full spectrum of viewpoints on the nature of Islam, it is difficult to 1. develop a strategy and 2. to make it known.

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  16. Cheney's point is that foreign and defense policy ought not be subject to the fickle nature of public opinion. But "long wars" aren't conducted in a vacuum and history shows that support lost is never regained. War fatigue, occupation fatigue, these are real phenomena, with real consequences, that have to be contended with somehow.

    I think he spends waay too much time indoors. In addition to having a pathological aversion to anything remotely associated with "the public."

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  17. The status quo is unsustainable in Iraq for a whole host of reasons ranging from a tired and dispirited public, to a troubled economy, and the Iraqis themselves. The Iraqis actually play a part in all this regardless of what we want and do. You also have regional actors who have a say. McCain insists on victory and any victory that involves an increase in violence from where we are now and/or increased Iranian influence will not be accepted as victory. Both are likely to occur no matter what we do.

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  18. p.s. Whit, no matter how much you wish it to be true - we are not fighting a war with "the nature of Islam".

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  19. IOZ has a cute way of expressing things:

    "Les trois ours

    The Post gives the two Donks too much credit, but whatever: Just what the hell is a responsible withdrawal from Iraq. The Post paints it à la three bears and asks for porridge neither too hot nor too cold, and that, in turn, paints to Post in fairytaleland. Since despite the best wishes of our humanitarian interventionists there is not yet any such thing as prophylaxis in war, I think an elementary fact bears repeating: withdrawal after insertion is precautionarily irrelevant, and your best bet, albeit still a lousy one, is haste."

    http://whoisioz.blogspot.com/

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  20. The strategy does not have to be handed out in manuscript to every voter. It does have to be presented in straightforward outline. And indeed, it can.

    The stubborn unwillingness to develop one and to take responsibility for it is precisely what has characterized this administration for at least the second half of its tenure. They're paralyzed by fear and division, but that's not an exuse for failing to either shit or get off the pot when you're dragging your nation along with you.

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  21. So? When is it time to question a politician trying to cover his own sorry ass? I don't make this stuff up. Listen to the man in his own words.

    On the post I added another youtube of Cheney from 1994. Why would you think Cheney has a credibility problem? This from a previous post:

    “Well, I don’t think it’s likely to unfold that way. . . . The read we get on the people of Iraq is there is no question but what they want to the get rid of Saddam Hussein, and they will welcome as liberators the United States when we come to do that.”

    –Dick Cheney, March 2003

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  22. From a political strategic perspective putting out specific strategies, especially with respect to war, opens you up to vulnerabilities due to specific criticisms of your plan. It is much more difficult to criticize "experience", "hope" and "straight talk".

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  23. Cheney was born in 1941. That made him 22 in 1963, a time when every male had an eight year military obligation. He applied for and received five draft deferments. During that same time, he was arrested twice for DWI's, at a time where they were very lenient with that sort of thing. You had to be pretty damn drunk to get a DWI then.

    Five deferments or five years in Iraq, it is all the same to me , bullshit.

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  24. Let me guess: The 1994 clip is the one in which Cheney explains why going to Baghdad was not a good idea.

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  25. watch the whole thing and listen to the logic and the reasons.

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  26. In 1994 Cheney was defending the decision of his former boss rather than presenting his own views. He understood GHWB's rationales well enough; I don't believe he ever agreed with them. Few people capable of such articulation make a turnaround so radical in so short a time.

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  27. Then he is just a mouth piece, another puke politician. You can't believe anything he says.

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  28. That's a policy I can certainly live with.

    I do, however, believe he's been a major force, and early on the signal influence, in this particular administration. I don't think it's simply urban myth.

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  29. At the end of the clip he is talking about how many American lives are worth taking down Saddam. In his words, not many. That is a tough thing to not be serious about.

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  30. I really liked him as SecDef; a whole lot of us did. But the degree of his success there was no doubt significantly the degree of sensible judgment on the part of the man he worked for. In every instance, in every administration, I think that probably goes without saying.

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  31. That is a tough thing to not be serious about.

    Mon Mar 24, 01:18:00 PM EDT

    I don't know why people find it hard to believe that actions with which one does not personally agree are usually anyhow defended when one is politically, officially associated with them. It is completely unremarkable and it is, in fact, the way of Washington. Along with internecine turf battles.

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  32. Now this is all going to drive Rat insane because he sticks, not without reason, to the interrogator's chief dictum: Begin by taking your source at his word.

    (Elijah, too, knows all about that one.)

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  33. Here's the 64K question, whit: How do we protect our newly established interests while reducing our exposure to an intractable political problem? More fundamentally, can we?

    To my mind, it all leads back to that "fucking Taj Mahal in Baghdad" and the tragic stillbirth of grand designs. It was not simply, or even primarily, a new military garrison we sought, but a cultural, commercial, political and ideological ally. Israel but with bases. Kuwait but without the throne. That's what 140K troops and a like number of contractors are protecting.

    Ronald Reagan had on his desk a small plaque that said, "It can be done." This is an admirable expression of optimism and confidence. VERY American.

    Sometimes, though, it can't.

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  34. What? Mid afternoon on Easter Monday and the bar's EMPTY?

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  35. Trish: McCain badly needs some blue ribbon foreign policy guidance. Because the tar baby in't gonna unstick itself.

    He doesn't have to unstick the tar baby, he can just announce today that Cheney will continue on as "Vice" President for another eight years. Stay the course.

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  36. It turns out the feds have been monitoring Interstate 5 for nuclear "dirty bombs." They do it with radiation detectors so sensitive it led to the following incident.

    "Vehicle goes by at 70 miles per hour," Giuliano told the crowd. "Agent is in the median, a good 80 feet away from the traffic. Signal went off and identified an isotope [in the passing car]."

    The agent raced after the car, pulling it over not far from the monitoring spot (near the Bow-Edison exit, 18 miles south of Bellingham). The agent questioned the driver, then did a cursory search of the car, Giuliano said.

    Did he find a nuke?

    "Turned out to be a cat with cancer that had undergone a radiological treatment three days earlier," Giuliano said.

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  37. I'm no "Climate Scientist," and I don't play one on the interntet (except, now, and then:) ) but THIS is looking Awful Real, to me.

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  38. He doesn't have to unstick the tar baby, he can just announce today that Cheney will continue on as "Vice" President for another eight years. Stay the course.

    Mon Mar 24, 02:40:00 PM EDT

    He can. In the event that he does, I see him losing to Barack "Jeremiah Wright" Obama.

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  39. The whole global warming thing, rufus: I am deeply suspicious by nature of any "crisis" that attracts the big government barkers.

    So should we all.

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  40. I don't know what darn chart to trust anymore. I've seen charts that track CO2 and temp. exactly, and now this from Rufus.

    That's kind of good news, aenea, good to know the government is doing something. Sort of impressive.

    So they'll bring the dirty one in over the border, and up the back roads.:(

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  41. Hey, Gals, can't we all just get along?

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  42. I think had Cheney been POTUS, and not had the Albatross of the Compassionate Chimp as his Boss, we'd be in a lot better shape wrt our standing in the world, and our image with the Islamonuts.

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  43. Al-Bob,
    Could you check on the length of Larry's Socks for us?

    "''It is also my client's understanding from the same source that Gov. Spitzer did not remove his mid-calf length black socks during the sex act.
    Perhaps you can use this detail to corroborate Mr. Stone's information,'' the letter said.
    "

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  44. Nah, I'll pass that job on to you. And mark the appropriate boxers or briefs box.

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  45. Fuck, I don't. I think Cheney supplied the imperial grandiosity to a sincerely bad bet.

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  46. Hey, Cat Vomit, and all other EB members:
    Please Identify *PDF* Files!
    My Vista Backed IE Freezes unless I download it and open from desktop!

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  47. Cheney would have bombed Iran.

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  48. Bob, it seems to me that the CO2 graph is pretty much a straight line (with a little acceleration after 1950, or therabouts,) whereas the temp. chart kind of jumps all over the place.

    Well, both sides are pretty locked in. The Warmenists say we're gonna get hotter, shortly; and, the Sunspotists say we're in for a period of cooling. I guess I'll just pop a "Cold One," and wait and see. Give me a call when somethin happens. :)

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  49. Which just goes to show how incredibly bright he allegedly is, he and (the unsurpassably named) Merril McPeak.

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  50. So the Solar stuff confirms what Greenland's been telling anybody willing to listen, right?

    (IE, a nice long period of good growing weather for a majority of the World)

    And a probable cooling future?

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  51. Doug, I've seen "PDF Warnings" on comments at other sites, and had no idea what it meant. Thanks for the "Heads Up."

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  52. Al-Bob can't get his little Muslim Farmer Pea Brain around the idea that Global Warming is a Global Socialist Conspiracy.
    ...too much late nite shriveled the pea.

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  53. Grandmother Pelosi has come out strongly against China mucking around in Tibet, a place where we can't do a thing--I bet she met the Dolly Lama at a garden party in San Francisco sometime.
    ---
    China hits back at Pelosi's Tibet criticism

    Pelosi Criticizes China's 'Oppression' in Tibet

    China has called US House speaker Nancy Pelosi a "defender of arsonists, looters and killers" after she visited the Dalai Lama and criticised Chinese "oppression" in Tibet.
    Pelosi "turned a blind eye to merciless rioters" in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, the Xinhua state news agency said in a commentary on Pelosi's trip to Dharamshala, seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile, last week.

    "Apathetic to those innocent victims in the recent Lhasa riot, Pelosi lost her own 'moral authority to speak about human rights' when she acted as a defender of arsonists, looters and killers," Xinhua said on Sunday.

    "Finding a leverage to tarnish China, 'human rights police' like Pelosi are habitually bad tempered and ungenerous when it comes to China, refusing to check their facts and find out the truth of the case," it said.

    Pelosi was cheered on her trip to India, when she made the first high-level call on the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader after anti-Chinese protests led to violent clashes between Tibetans and Chinese police 10 days ago.

    "If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression in Tibet, we have lost our moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world," Pelosi said.

    Breitbart article

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  54. I've got a hunch that will be proven, "Right," Doug; but, like all the rest of us poor suckers, I really don't have a clue.

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  55. My older computers did some things better, I'm really starting to like this one tho.
    Adobe, I hate.
    Greedy Bastards.
    I gotta see if Photoshop 4 will run on Vista!
    If not, it'll be PS 7 until I die.
    $2000 for an upgrade?
    I think not.
    ...specially when Flash and Acrobat couldn't get the Vista bugs out for over a year.

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  56. Whatever, Rufus:
    If we all gang up on Albob, I think he's still got a chance.
    Worth a try.

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  57. trish said...

    "Fuck, I don't. I think Cheney supplied the imperial grandiosity to a sincerely bad bet."

    In addition he brought his many years of experience 'getting things done in Washington' to the table. Navigating and managing to bypass all the inter-agency stuff is no small potatoes.

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  58. What's PDF mean?

    Ha! I have at least reconfigured my considerations of the problem. Thereby displaying my inborn rationality and open mindedness. Some smart asses think they're right about everything:)

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  59. Yeah, yeah, Nordik Jeans and other Fashion Aparel.

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  60. OMG, my son just brought home a kitten from spring break.

    Don't even have our dog here yet.

    Wait til his father finds out.

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  61. Dog'll just have to stay home, I guess.

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  62. Save the Kitten!
    Might give you a whole new and more humble perspective on your place in the scheme of things.

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  63. Our present cat auditioned as a homeless waif outside our house for several years.
    Now she owns the place.

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  64. A lot of people have been figuring out how to make a lot of money (get a lot of votes) off of "Global Warmening," Doug.

    There's nothing like "War," and other massive Guv'mint "Programs" to get Big Bizness' juices flowing.

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  65. Stunted by the homeless life, she still looks like a kitten @ 14.
    ...hope springs eternal for eternal life.

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  66. Have all the Crooks in DC live on the Street for five years, that should rectify matters.

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  67. I'm glad for this winter's news on the climate, should slow them down a bit, give it more thought.
    _____

    Don't let that kitten out of some room that's got linoleum!

    And, remember to have your pets spayed and neutered!
    Bob Barker

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  68. Doesn't anyone agree w/me that the erstwhile Seattle Lesbo has returned in the guise of "Aenea?"

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  69. Put it in your 400ft Marble Bathroom for the duration of the housetraining!

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  70. In Belgium we took in over the winter four stray cats, all of a farm litter. Had them all spayed and neutered.

    While my husband was in Kosovo.

    One, Gracious, we brought back to the States. More dog-like than cat-like, an amazing feline that had a shitload of bird shot in him.

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  71. This Aqua Satellite Data just might put a "Stake" through it's Heart.

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  72. You're late, Dougie-Boy. I called that one over a week ago, after her (I think) first post.

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  73. "Marohasy: "That's right ... These findings actually aren't being disputed by the meteorological community. They're having trouble digesting the findings, they're acknowledging the findings, they're acknowledging that the data from NASA's Aqua satellite is not how the models predict, and I think they're about to recognise that the models really do need to be overhauled and that when they are overhauled they will probably show greatly reduced future warming projected as a consequence of carbon dioxide."

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  74. I salute you!
    Missed that post.
    Hard not to miss old what's her name, tho.

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  75. She should try Stall Tapping instead of Multiple Blog Personality Complex.

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  76. "With catastrophe off the agenda, for most people the fog of millennial gloom will lift, at least until attention turns to the prospect of the next ice age. Among the better educated, the sceptical cast of mind that is the basis of empiricism will once again be back in fashion. The delusion that by recycling and catching public transport we can help save the planet will quickly come to be seen for the childish nonsense it was all along. "
    ---
    Maybe conservation of finite resources will have a chance again.
    Nuke the Chicoms!

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  77. Ash:
    p.s. Whit, no matter how much you wish it to be true - we are not fighting a war with "the nature of Islam".

    I believe I said or at least intimated that there is a debate over the nature of Islam.

    Yes, Doug, we all figured it out. It just doesn't matter.

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  78. He's the cutest damned creature.

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  79. :-}
    I like the Baby Monkey look in a 14 year old's eyes as she practices her killing reflexes with her tiger colored made in china eleastic feather covered plaything.
    ---
    Thanks for the Walmart Tip Ingamar!
    (forgot Johansen's nickname)

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  80. F...! wife and I are losing our word recall ability simultaneously!
    I'll be asking al-Bob for assistance.
    ---
    A Day of Relaxation at Le Spa Nordik
    The Canadian Nordic Society is planning a group trip to Le Spa Nordik, located in Chelsea, Quebec. In order to secure a group rate of $29.50 per person, payment must be made to the CNS by April 23, 2007. Cheques can be sent to our address which appears on the last page of this newsletter or brought to one of our events.

    We will have a sign-up sheet at the Speaker's Events leading up to the spa visit. Located at the entrance of Gatineau Park, Le Nordik is a relaxation Spa that features Scandinavian baths, featuring the following on site services: outdoor hot tub, Finnish sauna, steam bath, Nordic waterfall, as well as cold and temperate baths. Swedish, Californian and hot stone massage therapy are also available, but must be purchased separately and reserved in advance. Must be 18 years and older. Two towels, bottle of water and lock are provided at the reception. Bathing suit and beach sandals are mandatory. For more details on Le Nordik, view their website: (toll free 1-866-575-3700).

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  81. "The housing numbers are also less positive than at first blush. Existing-home sales, which make up most of the American housing market, advanced to a seasonally adjusted 5.03 million annual rate, up from 4.89 million in January, according to the National Association of Realtors, a trade group."
    ---
    Still way down from last Feb.

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  82. You're both late. I asked her if she was T over at BC.


    Cat with a shitload of bird shot. :) Sounds like it might have been owned by Dick Cheney at one time.

    I knew of a dog that had a .22 bullet between it's eyes. They kept him tied, because he'd attack anything that moved. Guarded a repair shop. Big chain.

    Rufus, Dr. Bill on KGO was talking about how the deep oceans, due to all the pressure from above, don't change temp. much. Said you'd have to put a shitload of heat in there. Also, soak up lots of CO2.

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  83. They did a lot of pheasant hunting around Chateau Morval. Boy did they ever. Over the hood of our station wagon, for instance. No harm, no foul.

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  84. Wonder if Cheney's explored the possibility?

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  85. Dog here has a MOH from his neighbor from a mere pellet implant.
    Old Warriors get soft in their old age, especially for verities like Man's Best Friend.

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  86. They did a lot of pheasant hunting around Chateau Morval.

    They get out of the jeep, or shoot from the seat, like the slobs they are?

    I don't like Cheney's hunting methods, and it shows.


    Here's another article about those floating thermometers.

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  87. WASHINGTON, March 24 (UPI) -- Conserving rolling ocean waves was the theme of Monday's White House Easter Egg Roll in Washington.

    "Ocean conservation is a important aspect of good public service," President George Bush told the crowd of children and adults at the annual event on the White House South Lawn.

    Volunteers from organizations such as Ocean Conservancy, Keep American Beautiful and Take Pride in America assisted.

    First lady Laura Bush noted the event featured ocean conservation education area where visitors could "learn what you can do to make sure we keep our oceans clean and healthy for fish and other ocean life."

    Marine life artist Wyland offered painting lessons during the event.

    On hand as readers were former first lady Barbara Bush, first daughter Jenna Bush, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman and presidential cabinet members, as well as authors Rosemary Wells and Nancy Tafuri.
    ---
    Wyland has made multiple millions from his austere begining selling cheesy Neon "Art"work of Sea Life on Maui.

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  88. I asked once before Trish:
    What is the source of the Wealth you said enveloped your neighborhood?

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  89. Tell Dr Bill there's some pretty deep ocean currents carrying shitloads of energy from one end of the earth to the other.

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  90. Let's here it for Lorne Gunter!

    ...didn't know about them bouys.

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  91. Float of the month - February 2008:

    Goodbye to old Faithful - perhaps February 01, 2008

    The Canadian float 4900074 was launched on the 21st February 2002 in the Gulf of Alaska by Marie Robert. On 11th January 2008 it supplied a fine looking profile, its 215th profile for a lifetime, so far, of 5.89 years. On the 21st and 31st of January 2008 it failed to report, so perhaps we have the final profile from this faithful float.

    But its longevity isn't what I had in mind for this article. This float is remarkable for having gone almost nowhere, see the figure. I see no evidence that it ever grounded, it just must have been launched in the most singularly boring chunk of ocean on the whole planet. It was launched at 45.7°N, 127°W (the green dot in the figure) and the most recent position has it about 40 km away at 45.976°N, 127.507°W (the blue dot on the figure) which gives a mean velocity of (0.017, -0.021) cm/s or 0.027 cm/s to the NW as shown by the black displacement vector.

    This leads to an interesting philosophical conundrum. This float clearly would be a contender for the title of "most boring float trajectory". But if it is the "most boring" then clearly it is singled out for special status and therefore is "most interesting". Perhaps Kurt Gödel might have had some opinions on this matter?

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  92. I asked once before Trish:
    What is the source of the Wealth you said enveloped your neighborhood?

    Mon Mar 24, 07:37:00 PM EDT

    I answered, Doug.

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  93. They get out of the jeep, or shoot from the seat, like the slobs they are?

    - bob

    Ah, no.

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  94. They do dress for what we Americans might think of as "indoor" hunting.

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  95. I do tend to believe what folk say, the first time.

    Now in Mr Cheney's case, he made the case. The "Conservative" case.
    Back in 1993 & '94.

    Once he controlled the reins, being the driver, not the navigator, Mr Cheney became true to himself. The power loving Statist. The man who has stated unequivically that he had other priorities than serving in the Armed Forces of the United States.

    Power, influence and cold hard cash. Those were Mr Cheney's priorities. He was successful, one of the most successful of his generation of Republicans. He's outlasted about them all, from the high ground of the Naval Observatory. In an old job title, with a new job description.

    He is a man on multiple medications, who has an ambulance escort, in tow. Who admittedly mixes those medications with liquer. As he did both before and after shooting the lawyer.

    This is old ground, about Mr Cheney.

    Wait on McCain stories to surface.
    Especially with the guilt by association standard that has been propagated.

    Mrs Obama is a radical liberal Princton educated survivalist. She and hers are in the running for the top spot. She shines as a woman of rightous honesty and courage. Stating her views, on her rise to the creme of the crop.

    Mrs McCain, Cindy. My o my, how she pales in comparison.
    A liar, theif and purjerer.
    Can't wait to read her college thesis...
    The Budwieser Princess of Phoenix.

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  96. A slieght correction

    It was a beer before shooting the lawyer
    Liquer after shooting the lawyer

    Drinking before the Sheriffs Deputy arrived, making an evaluation of Mr Cheney level of intoxication at the time of the shooting impossibe to ascertain, by interview.

    Smooth move and abuse of power, using the Secret Service as a shield from investigation of an shooting.

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  97. "She shines as a woman of rightous honesty and courage. Stating her views, on her rise to the creme of the crop."

    Damn, Rat.

    When you're not used to dealing with ideas, but simply personalities, I can see how this would happen.

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  98. Exactly, trish.

    That is the play.
    That is the news at 5:00 & 11:00

    All day long on MSNBC - CNN - FOX
    Day after day.

    The power of personality over substance

    In American society.

    Britney, Lohan, Oprah, Kennedy, Obama, Clinton - Billary

    Barack or Bill,
    Boxers or briefs?
    Who's the bigger man?

    Answered on MTV a 8:00

    That's the game, in the middle of America. Is the Presidental election over before the next American Idol is elected?

    Wonder what gets better ratings?

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  99. Heard on the local radio here--the lower dollar is leading to a big rise in the number of foreign students applying to Washington State University, the University of Idaho, and Lewis-Clark State.

    If you folks haven't figured it out yet, a major industry here is sucking the guts out of students.

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  100. We are counter-cyclical here--a bad economy is good for us. People come back to educate up.

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  101. A small bag of kitty litter is seven bucks. Holy cow.

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  102. For instance, gas is twelve to fourteen cents higher in Moscow, than Lewiston, even though Lewiston is thirty miles further from the source.

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  103. Obama's rebound in the Democrat's race current polling, as reported in the MSM, puts Obama up over Clinton by 4%.

    After a drop the week before.
    The Pastor Wright wave, then Obama successful surfing of that wave.

    Presenting what is glowingly described as the best speach on "race" in forty years!

    Obama's numbers have bounced right back up. The MSM bored of the story come May. Never to get play again, old news is no news.

    Obama plays that race card, as a bargineer, not a challenger.
    America is lapping it up.

    Saw a map, today, Obama wins, Billary wins. Obama carries the "Blue" States, Bilary, the "Red".

    The Clinton Team made an Electoral College arguement, her States have more Electora; votes, so there is a matrix that she leads with.

    But she leads in GOP States, not Democratic ones. The nomination is decided more by State identity and party power. The Super Delegates are thicker in the Obama States.

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  104. Sand, Trish, sand from some nearby beach.

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  105. Or, dirt in a cardboard box.

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  106. Hillary tells a shit load of lies. CBS Outs Hillary YouTube. They must be backing Obama.

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  107. They all are, bob.

    Obama has just made the "Greatest" speach on "race" in forty years, who, just like Mr Lincoln, that great American uniter from Illinois, he wrote it himself.

    Wrote and edited.

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  108. Yup, you're right, Rat. I don't follow it on tv, but I pick up on the spin. Kind of after the fact.

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  109. They all report the same "news" bob.

    It's all cornflakes.
    The cable news channels $ the NYTimes sets the tone.

    All the print media get air time on the Cable and broadcast programing. Time, NewsWeak, Weekly Standard, NYTimes, etc. Talking head exposure, fifteen minutes, or more, of fame.

    The "respectable media", professionals. all.

    They report the patterns, must spin the interpretation, together.
    Corprate clans with tribal loyalties. All coloring within the approved lines.

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  110. Clay, bob.

    And in any event, the beach isn't nearby but rather a plane flight away.

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  111. One funny aspect of this ctcle that goes unmentioned...

    The GOP has moanings of RINOism, who is "really" a Republican, more than what it means to be a Republican. But he Party structure will stay united, regardless. Just a few ideologes will stray

    While the liberals of the left may well destroy their Partys' opportunity for success, all for identity political parity, while we marvel the projectionist powers of Barack... Uniting all things good, to so many hopeful voters.

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  112. One of the Denver type qualities of Bogota, bob, it's a high mountain valley.

    Pretty post modern urban when compare to Moscow, ID

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  113. Weather's been rather shitty, too. How easily we begin to complain when leaving the relative deep freeze of home.

    For those doing the long-haul South/Central America tour, Bogota is just damn cold.

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  114. Bobal: For instance, gas is twelve to fourteen cents higher in Moscow, than Lewiston, even though Lewiston is thirty miles further from the source.

    By truck maybe. Barges are cheaper, and they gotta haul any barged-in petroleum up that bitch-kitty of a hill, Switchback City and Cutback County.

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  115. aenea, I think we get our gas coming down from Spokane. If I'm wrong that no gas is barged up the river, you can go ahead and shoot me.

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  116. Does This sound familiar? The British people are mostly all against it, but the government goes ahead and is in the process of signing away their sovereignty via The Treaty of Lisbon. Dammit, how do we get a grip on these situations? 75 or 80 percent of Americans want immigration dealt with forcefully, yet not much happens.

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  117. Congressman RON PAUL goes prime time, big time, tonite on C2C!

    First Hour: Congressman Ron Paul will talk about limited constitutional gov't, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies, as well as discuss his 2008 presidential bid. Dr. Paul will also take questions.

    Next up, mathematician and author David Orrell will discuss the limits of scientific prediction and how chaos theory and complexity limit our ability to predict weather, health and wealth.

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  118. When the "elites" all play the Union line, regardless of Party, bob.

    Then electoral majorities mean nothing, the majority does not have infrastructure, can not build a Mational Party, from scratch.

    Not without some of the main cultural manipulators stoking the fire.

    The elected elitists serve their constituents as if they were know nothings. Ignorant of law and custom.

    The storytellers stay the course

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  119. Why just yesterday, Wretchard investigates the Catholic Liberation Theology movement and how Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger described it it in 1984, five years after John PaulII became Pontiff.

    Liberation theology is a phenomenon with an extraordinary number of layers. There is a whole spectrum from radically marxist positions, on the one hand, to the efforts which are being made within the framework of a correct and ecclesial theology, on the other hand, a theology which stresses the responsibility which Christians necessarily hear for the poor and oppressed, such as we see in the documents of the Latin American Bishops' Conference (CELAM) from Medellin to Puebla.
    The Belmont Club is supported largely by donations from its readers.

    Not even a hat-tip, on Easter.

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  120. As the then good Cardinal says:

    An analysis of the phenomenon of liberation theology reveals that it constitutes a fundamental threat to the faith of the Church. At the same time it must be borne in mind that no error could persist unless it contained a grain of truth. Indeed, an error is all the more dangerous, the greater that grain of truth is, for then the temptation it exerts is all the greater.

    Furthermore, the error concerned would not have been able to wrench that piece of the truth to its own use if that truth had been adequately lived and witnessed to in its proper place (in the faith of the Church). So, in denouncing error and pointing to dangers in liberation theology, we must always be ready to ask what truth is latent in the error and how it can be given its rightful place, how it can be released from error's monopoly.

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  121. So, in denouncing error and pointing to dangers in liberation theology, we must always be ready to ask what truth is latent in the error and how it can be given its rightful place, how it can be released from error's monopoly.

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  122. The truth that's latent in the error seems to me to be that capital and ownership tend to concentrate too much, without some counterbalancing force. The error that's contained in that truth is that the solution is to concentrate power even more, in even fewer hands, without the ability to vote 'em out, or otherwise peacefully change the situation. Witness Cuba and Castro. And others.

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  123. Technology is changing things so fast now, though, that it seems nearly any government or social program might well be outdated before it's implemented fully.

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  124. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  125. As said, there is an element of truth in acknowledging the problem.

    From there on, the differences in perception and perspective make easy compromise imposible.

    The discussion developing into claims of Judas living in New Mexico and McCarthism running rampent in Billaryville.

    With McCain basking in the shadows, his idiomic gaffes, passed over, for now.

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  126. McCain might be in what we call Indian Summer here, a last gasp of summer before the onset of winter. He better bask in Europe while he can. Ron Paul coming up on Coast to Coast. Nite.

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  127. "The truth that's latent in the error seems to me to be that capital and ownership tend to concentrate too much, without some counterbalancing force."

    Which would be what?

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  128. In democratic societies it's been taxes passed by the legislature, of all sorts, corporate taxes, death taxes, graduated income taxes, property taxes, my favorite the capital gains tax on property held for a long time, that is to say, a tax on the passage of time, etc., funding all sorts of employment programs, universities, research, on and on, and welfare of all sorts.

    Nothing much new with Ron Paul. He's staying in the race till the end, and hopes to have a place at the convention, and isn't going to mount a third party effort, he says. And won't support John Mccain.

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  129. Are you a registered Republican, bob?

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  130. No, we don't register here. I've voted democratic sometimes. Lately mostly republican. I've voted independent, too. I always vote.

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  131. I always vote.

    Tue Mar 25, 03:10:00 AM EDT

    I never do.

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  132. You really should work for the MSM, 'Rat!
    Guilt by association?
    He sends his young girls to this Gulag of the Ghetto!
    He gave them 20 k last year!
    Guilt by association?

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  133. The Audio edition of "Dreams from My Father," Read by Obama himself, (!) who by the time of it's publication in Audio form on May 3, 2005, had become US Senator Obama, was the subject of Hugh Hewitt's show Monday.

    Audio Excerpts are available here.

    ...one question I had when listening to his profanity laced reading was:
    Why would he remember, in word for word detail, a run of the mill conversation he had with a school chum when he was 17 years old?

    Not too hard to see how much he projected his personal rudderlessness and alienation onto his ostensibly rational analysis of politics and racial relations.
    Pay particular attention to the people he chose to associate with in his days as a student at Occidental College!

    Publisher: Random House Audio; Abridged edition (May 3, 2005)
    (His 2004 Democratic Convention keynote address is included at the end.)
    ---
    "In his preface to the 2004 revised edition, Obama explains that he had hoped the story of his family "might speak in some way to the fissures of race that have characterized the American experience, as well as the fluid state of identity—the leaps through time, the collision of cultures—that mark our modern life."

    (unstated and unexamined, no doubt unrealized, was the effect of the fluid state of the author's identity, to include mind altering substances, on the quality of the product!)
    Time magazine's Joe Klein wrote that the book "may be the best-written memoir ever produced by an American politician.

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  134. Mon Mar 24, 07:51:00 PM EDT

    Always good to be helpful, right, Trish?

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  135. "Mrs Obama is a radical liberal Princton educated survivalist. She and hers are in the running for the top spot. She shines as a woman of rightous honesty and courage. Stating her views, on her rise to the creme of the crop."
    ---
    Sending her little girls off to hear lies, hatred, and conspiracy theories worthy of the KKK.

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