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."

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Bush Legacy Continues in Mississippi

"The Republican brand has been so badly damaged that if Republicans try to run an anti-Obama, anti-Rev. Wright or, if Sen. Clinton wins, anti-Clinton campaign, they are simply going to fail"
- Newt Gingrich

NRCC Chairman Tom Cole's Statement on Special Election Results in Mississippi

Washington -- NRCC Chairman Tom Cole released the following statement following the results of the special election runoff in Mississippi's 1st Congressional District:

"We are disappointed in tonight's election results. Though the NRCC, RNC and Mississippi Republicans made a major effort to retain this seat, we came up short.

"Tonight's election highlights two significant challenges Republicans must overcome this November. First, Republicans must be prepared to campaign against Democrat challengers who are running as conservatives, even as they try to join a liberal Democrat majority. Though the Democrats' task will be more difficult in a November election, the fact is they have pulled off two special election victories with this strategy, and it should be a concern to all Republicans.

"Second, the political environment is such that voters remain pessimistic about the direction of the country and the Republican Party in general. Therefore, Republicans must undertake bold efforts to define a forward looking agenda that offers the kind of positive change voters are looking for. This is something we can do in cooperation with our Presidential nominee, but time is short.

"I encourage all Republican candidates, whether incumbents or challengers, to take stock of their campaigns and position themselves for challenging campaigns this fall by building the financial resources and grassroots networks that offer them the opportunity and ability to communicate, energize and turn out voters this election."




57 comments:

  1. "The race has attracted national attention, with Vice President Dick Cheney campaigning for Davis on Monday, and Davis running ads trying to tie Childers to Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi."

    Cheney would certainly be my first choice to help me swing a wary electorate. Hard to understand how he lost with such political savvy.

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  2. About half of West Virginia voters said they believed the Illinois senator shared the views of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his controversial former pastor. Five more contests remain in the Democratic nominating battle, with a combined 189 delegates at stake.

    Oregon and Kentucky vote on May 20, Puerto Rico votes on June 1 and Montana and South Dakota vote on June 3. Clinton is favoured again next week in Kentucky and Obama is favoured in Oregon.

    "Like she says: it's not over until the lady in the pantsuit says it's over," remarked Hillary Lambert, a Clinton supporter.


    WV Primary

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  3. I have no problems with Cheney whatsoever.


    And neither should you.

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  4. While news reports like to speak of a "resurgent Taliban" in Afghanistan, in the 14 provinces that make up Regional Command East in Afghanistan they are a defeated military force. Not only do the Taliban refuse to engage American forces directly, they have not won an engagement with the Afghan National Army in a year.

    ...

    Colonel Marty Schweitzer of the 82nd Airborne Division has just finished a 15-month deployment commanding coalition forces in six provinces in eastern Afghanistan. Here on the eastern border and in the north of the country, the insurgency is largely a matter of IEDs and VBIEDs (Vehicle Born Improvised Explosion Devices), with the occasional suicide bomber.

    ...

    The crown jewel in the American counterinsurgency is Khost province. Here Lieutenant Colonel Scottie D. Custer pioneered an innovative strategy that Schweitzer quickly copied in other provinces.


    COIN Growing

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  5. You bought it.

    You're going to own it.

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  6. Cheney is wobbly on gun control, literally. He shot a 78 year old man in the face.

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  7. I had no prolem, supported fully, the Cheney of 1991.
    Followed along until it became obvious that the Cheney of 2004 had no loyalty, at all, to the positions of Cheney '91.

    Then I had a problem with him, still do.

    Thought I had bought a domestic built pickup truck, then the dealer delivered a foreign buolt mini van, told me it not only was what I'd bought, I better be pleased with it, too. Or else I'd get a two seat SMART car, next!

    If the GOP cannot hold in Mississippi, they won't hold any where.

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  8. sam, when will you ever take the Generals to heart?

    In neither Iraq or Afghanistan, Islamic Republics both, can there be a military solution.

    In neither case is the objective to defeat the Insurgents in detail.

    So the win loss column is of little import, all that defines victory is withdrawal. To remain in either Islamic Republic as an occuppier or a police force is tatamount to longterm defeat pf stated US objectives.

    The more troops that remain, in search of a politically acceptable outcome, in either country, the greater the scale of that defeat.

    If the US and Afghan troops have won, as your clip suggests, why do the US troops not leave?

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  9. Well, trish, serious?

    Where are the American Revoluntionaries?

    Not standing with Cheney, that's for sure.
    Unless the annexation of Mexico by assimulation is now part of the goals of the Revolution.

    Why wouldn't they be?

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  10. Just goes to show how "out of touch", with the electorate, the GOP elites are.

    To believe that the electorate would be okay with a 100 year presence in Iraq, if there were few casualties.

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  11. Oh, the blogger profile?

    Hadn't looked at that in years.
    Guess not, seriously.

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  12. Add the Goals of the Revolution, extending the inalienable rights of man, to the concept of Manifest Destiny and just where does that put US, in regards Central America?

    Seriously, I've seen the world with one core value since my early twenties, one that is liberal in concept and multifaceted in execution.

    "Free the Oppressed"

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  13. I witnessed this campaign, first-hand. It was all over my tv Every Fucking Hour, of Every Fucking Night!

    All the Pubs did, hour-after-hour/day-after-day was slam Travis whats-his-name for owing money on his taxes.

    Then, in the last couple of days someone thought they would "Really" screw ol' Trav by putting his picture up alongside Obama's.

    I didn't even know the name of the Republican running against him. THEY NEVER FUCKING MENTIONED THEIR OWN NOMINEE'S NAME!

    Now, Guys (and, Guys'ettes) I was known as a fair-to-middlin' salesman; and, MY favorite strategy was to sell the benefits, and build enthusiam for MY Product!

    If I was EVER forced to use the name of my Competitor my Sales Call wasn't going well.

    It was, without a doubt, the Single Worst Campaign Strategy I've Ever Seen!

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  14. The reason the republicans are so vacuous is that to this day they are still trying to sneak illegal immigrants into the country with stuff buried in bills going through congress. Consider this law with a little clause forbidding employers from checking the status of illegals. That's just the start:

    Section 101(b)(2)(A), which reduced to simple language* would preempt and ban any and all state or local law for immigration-related issues enacted to impose employer fines or sanctions, or would forbid any laws requiring employers to verify work status or identity for work authorization. It would also prevent any unit of government from verifying status of renters, determining eligibility for receipt of benefits, enrollment in school, obtaining a business or other license, or conducting a background check.

    This preemption, buried deep in the text of the bill, would kill all the laws recently enacted by long-suffering states and localities in response to the federal government’s unwillingness to enforce its own federal laws on immigration. Gone would be the recent highly effective and highly successful enforcement legislation of Arizona and Oklahoma, the local laws and ordinances of towns like Hazleton, PA, Costa Mesa, CA, Herndon and Prince William, Virginia, and over a hundred other localities, and of hundreds more in process of enactment.

    For one example, the control of business licenses is now one of the few areas not preempted. It is one of the few tools still left to states and local governments to fight the presence and hiring of illegal workers, and the award of benefits and welfare. NEVA would take even those tools away. Having abdicated its own responsibilities on immigration enforcement, the Congress is apparently on a search-and-destroy mission for any lower elected body that might actually want to follow the rule of law and provide the protection for its citizens that the federal government seems incapable and unwilling to provide.

    Although labeled “bipartisan”, this bill submitted by Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Tex.) is overwhelmingly Republican in its sponsorship (28 out of 31). It appears to be a counter to Democrat Heath Shuler’s SAVE Act legislation, a much better, if not perfect, alternative now blocked by fellow Democrat Speaker Pelosi’s pro-illegal obstinacy.

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  15. I asked, in another post, "Are there any more Rufii out there? Anyone else so mad at the Republican party that they don't give a Rat's-Ass if the Dems do, indeed, win it all this year?"

    I said that I didn't think there were enough to make a difference.

    Now, I'm not so sure. I'm sick, and tired, of the Pubs trying (unfortunately, successfully) to give my country away. It seems, there isn't a thing the Southern Republicans give a Fuck about except getting cheap, illegal labor for Tyson, and Smithfield Foods.

    I just don't care, anymore. These Pubs need to go. We're going to have an extended period of clusterfuck governance for awhile, one way or another. I'd just as soon the Dems get the Credit for it.

    Since I refuse to "Not Vote" in a Presidential election, I guess I'll definitely be vote for Obaamaa. Amazin.

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  16. "It was, without a doubt, the Single Worst Campaign Strategy I've Ever Seen!"

    It almost seems as though they do it on purpose. And perhaps they are.

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  17. I see Rush is taking up the same theme today. He just can't seem to say the obvious in that it is a topdown problem.

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  18. Centralized control.

    Power in the hands of a far and away Leader, who represents those whose goals and aspirations for control are not local or even national in nature, but Continental, Hemisphereic and Global.

    All for our own good, of course.
    Rubes that we continually prove be.

    Why not vote for change, rufus?
    Bob Barr of Georgia launched a Libertarian Party presidential bid yesterday, saying voters are hungry for an alternative to the status quo

    Just because he won't win, does not mean a showing of 10% or more would be a beginning. The fact that he will not win, means the specific policies he expouses will be meaningless, if he becomes a protest symbol.

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  19. Bob Barr of Georgia launched a Libertarian Party presidential bid yesterday, saying voters are hungry for an alternative to the status quo
    /////////////////
    Bob Barr joined the ACLU a while back. Since then, I've not had much trust for the guy.

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  20. I think Barr's as nuts as McCain.

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  21. Desert Rat, the last time a third party candidate got a lot of traction (Ross Perot 1992, 19% of the popular vote) he split conservatives and we ended up with Clinton and the 1993 tax hike. At least John McBush's idea of a civil union is that between you and your money. I'm just saying.

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  22. There is a link on the DrudgeReport of another rant by Pastor Manning of New York. This one is about what he calls the Trinity of Hell between Winfrey, Obama, and Wright. Very interesting....check it out.

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  23. At least John McBush's idea of a civil union is that between you and your money.

    David, if you think the last seven years have been good, then you've already got your candidate. Good luck with that.

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  24. So how do you like your 3 new personalities, Ms T?

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  25. Mexican drug cartels infiltrating Campuses

    Research indicates that lucrative university and high school campuses are fertile markets for drug dealers. Mexican drug cartels have known this for years and are believed to have infiltrated many of America’s school campuses through cartel gang members. Federal authorities point to the Mexican drug cartels who are ultimately responsible for border violence by having cemented ties to street and prison gangs like Barrio Azteca on the U.S. side. Azteca and other U.S. gangs retail drugs that they get from Mexican cartels and Mexican gangs.

    Mexican gangs run their own distribution networks in the United States, and they produce most of the methamphetamine used north of the border. They have even bypassed the Colombians several times to buy cocaine directly from producers in Bolivia, Peru and even Afghanistan. These same gangs often work as cartel surrogates or enforcers on the U.S. side of the border. Intelligence suggests Los Zetas . They're known as "Los Zetas
    have hired members of various gangs at different times including, El Paso gang Barrio Azteca, Mexican Mafia, Texas Syndicate, MS-13, and Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos to further their criminal endeavors.

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  26. Pubs just can't figure the complex strategy of the Dems:
    Knowing pubs have tossed conservatism under the bus, seems logical to them, but not to the party of Presidente Jorge.
    ---
    "t instead of blaming Davis, National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Tom Cole issued a surprisingly blunt statement about his party's own chances, coming a week after a national poll showed Democrats leading Republicans by a wide 50%-32% margin on generic congessional ballot tests. "Tonight's election highlights two significant challenges Republicans must overcome this November," Cole said. "First, Republicans must be prepared to campaign against Democrat challengers who are running as conservatives, even as they try to join a liberal Democrat majority. Though the Democrats' task will be more difficult in a November election, the fact is they have pulled off two special election victories with this strategy, and it should be a concern to all Republicans."

    "The political environment is such that voters remain pessimistic about the direction of the country and the Republican Party in general," Cole continued. "I encourage all Republican candidates, whether incumbents or challengers, to take stock of their campaigns and position themselves for challenging campaigns this fall by building the financial resources and grassroots networks that offer them the opportunity and ability to communicate, energize and turn out voters this election.""

    ReplyDelete
  27. Morons and Junk Science Rule!

    Polar Bear to Be a Protected Species

    In declaring the polar bear a threatened species, the Interior Department cited the decline in Arctic sea ice from global warming.

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  28. They were the elite "special forces" of the Mexican military, trained in the U.S. at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia and sent to "wipe out" one of the most powerful Mexican drug cartels according to anonymous US Government sources.

    Investigators say the feared bands of ex-military elite forces are operating in Texas and other parts of the United States unchecked. A team of rogue Mexican commandos blamed for hundreds of killings and kidnappings along the U.S.-Mexico border has carried out at least five drug-related slayings as far north as Dallas, a sign that the group is extending its deadly operations into U.S. cities, U.S. law enforcement officials say.

    The men are known as the Zetas, former members of the Mexican army who defected to Mexico's so-called Gulf drug cartel in the late 1990s.

    "These guys operate like a military well trained and with precision," said Arturo A. Fontes, an FBI special investigator for border violence based in Laredo, in south Texas. "They have their hands in everything and they have eyes and ears everywhere. I've seen how they work, and they're good at what they do. They're an impressive bunch of ruthless criminals." Dallas and federal officials said that since late 2003 eight to 10 members of the Zetas have been operating in north Texas, maintaining a "shadowy existence" and sometimes hiring Texas criminal gangs, including the Mexican Mafia, M-13 and Texas Syndicate, for contract killings according to the Dallas police dept.. The Texas Syndicate is a prison gang that authorities blame for several murders nationwide.

    It is also believed by some officials at the CIA that they may have Al-Qaeda and other terrorist connections and maybe helping them breach our borders.

    The U.S.-Mexico border is becoming like a war zone states Texas sheriff's from El Paso, McAllen, Laredo.

    The feds in El Paso alerted law enforcement throughout the country, warning them that Mexican commandos are now working for drug cartels.

    Most Americans are shocked to learn where the commandos were trained.

    A memo from the Justice Department warns that Mexican commandos were trained by U.S. forces, but switched sides. They are now using their deadly skills to work for the drug cartels often with the Mexican regular army

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  29. We Have to ACT!!!

    ,doug.

    Number one on the McCain hit parade, solve climate change.

    Open the border, its' the humane and compassionate thing to do.

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  30. Bet we have retnia scans and DNA on all those Fort Benning trained Los Zetas fellows, they better just give up, now.

    Golly, the Mexicans have lost control of at least a portion of their special ops operators.

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  31. If the US and Afghan troops have won, as your clip suggests, why do the US troops not leave?

    I don't think it's suggesting we've won yet.

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  32. Iris Scanning: One would assume this coloured ring of tissue surrounding the pupil can't be duplicated. Wrong. A dark iris colour can affect the camera's ability to correctly distinguish patterns.

    ...

    Voice Biometrics: This can be affected by noise and health conditions - colds, laryngitis etc.

    Hand Geometry: Hand readers too can be fooled as heat from a live hand can be generated by other means.


    ID Profiling

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  33. They keep talking up this dream team thing. Wonder what will happen if that happens? Will the 35% of Clinton supporters still bail? Or will it be game over?

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  34. HA!

    Bubba was in Missoula, and, since the Adams Center was more or less on our way out of town, we thought, why not. So we did, certainly didn't have to fight our way in, though. Maybe 1,000 souls, a slight majority women, lots of young ones, listened to Bubba sing the praises of Hillary.

    I can say this, he looked nice. Good shape, not a white hair out of place. Never once did I hear the words 'nuclear energy' but Montana has a bright future in wind, solar, etc. according to Big Bill Clinton.

    If we don't quit on Hillary, she won't quit on us!

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  35. By the way, The Elephant Bar is still blocked at some motels, Inappropriate Content, Mature/Adult.

    But take heart, the Belmont Club was blocked too--Inappropriate Content, Violent/Incendiary.

    :)

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  36. Bubba In Missoula

    Never mentioned fly fishing once. All about Hillary. Funny thing was, every once in a while, he's slip into, "When elected, I will..."

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  37. In his classic work, "Albion's Seed," Brandeis University historian David Hackett Fischer described the four distinctly different British migrations that made America.

    Obama is a much more appealing candidate to whites like those in New England (though he lost Massachusetts and Rhode Island decisively), who inhabit the lands first settled by the more intellectual and moralistic Puritans, and the places from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Northwest where those New Englanders migrated.

    In other words, Obama is more in the John Adams or John Qunicy Adams mold, and voters in Appalachia are Andrew Jackson Democrats, for whom John McCain, with his Scots-Irish heritage and temperament, may appear to be the real McCoy.


    Not a White Problem

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  38. And, T., I can report, cherry juice is great for inflammation and gout, your advice was taken, with wonderful results. Thanks. I now have a big supply stocked up.

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  39. Boehner said Republicans need to start rallying around McCain as "an agent of change."

    "Candidates who hope to succeed must show that they're willing and able to join McCain in a leading movement for reform," he said.

    David Johnson, CEO of GOP polling firm Strategic Vision, says House leadership "hasn't just been ineffective in these special elections, but in raising money, candidate recruitment" and formulating a positive message.


    Wake Up Call

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  40. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  41. Agent of Change,
    that'd be the day.

    Yesterday vs Tomorrow

    That's more the play,
    like it or not.

    I've never seen the incremental steps at consolidating power and authority, made by the Federalists of the Democratic and Republican parties, stepped back.

    Agent of Change,
    quite the rallying cry
    for the conservative right.

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  42. Reagan was an agent of change.

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  43. "The science is absolutely clear that polar bear needs protection under the Endangered Species Act," said Andrew Wetzler, director of the endangered species program at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

    A decision had been expected early this year, but the Interior Department said it needed more time to work out many of the details, prompting criticism from members of Congress and environmentalists. Environmentalists filed a lawsuit aimed at forcing a decision and a federal court on April 29 set a May 15 deadline for a decision.

    A species is declared "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act if it is found to be at risk of becoming endangered in the foreseeable future. If it does not make progress toward recovery, it can be declared "endangered" meaning it is at risk of extinction and needs even greater protection.


    Threatened Species

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  44. An attempt is being made to list the Giant Palouse Earthworm as an endangered species. Turned down on the first attempt, they are moving to the next level.

    The search is one to find some of these critters. One was reported to have been possibly found near Peshastin, in the Cascades! These big babies seem to have a wide range:)

    The Endangered Species Act has some good points, alas it's always taken to extremes, and often with really shitty science. Often makes one wonder in our society will survive.

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  45. How do I post a picture of Big Bill 'Bubba' Clinton speaking in Missoula from my computors "My Pictures" file to here?

    Got my new digital up and running.

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  46. Think of the size of the Rainbow you could catch with one of those suckers!

    ReplyDelete
  47. You might have to email it to the barkeep to have them post.

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  48. Mr Reagan was running against the malaose of the Carter years.
    There was a need for change in style and policy.

    What change does McCain promise
    on Iraq, border security, wild horse protection, canpaign finance and freedom of speach?

    Obama's "change" is evident in his positions on all those subjects.

    McCain, like it or not is runnig as the incumbent, without the advantages of the Office.

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  49. Yep, that's how to get 'er done.
    Send whit the image's jpeg

    Could be the end of an era, if Billary bites the dust.

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  50. What's Obama doing about border security? I haven't heard.

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  51. "I haven't been seeing John as much," said the Illinois senator. "I forgot how good he is."

    The soon-to-be nominee won't forget again.

    Neither will Hillary Clinton.


    Elbowing Aside Clinton

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  52. What's Obama doing about border security? I haven't heard.

    Nada, zero, zilch, nothing.

    That's the reason you haven't heard, and won't.

    I may have some of the last images of 'Bill Clinton At Work' :)

    I'll send a couple off to Whit.

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  53. Of course, as long as the Vietnamese government remains a one-party dictatorship that persecutes democracy advocates, independent journalists, religious worshippers, and ethnic minorities, the process of upgrading bilateral relations will be hampered. Hanoi recognizes this, and in recent years it has taken steps to assuage U.S. concerns.

    In November 2006, the State Department removed Vietnam from its list of the worst abusers of religious freedom. But many activists felt that was a mistake.

    Earlier this month, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released a report arguing that, while Vietnam has made "noticeable progress," the Bush administration acted prematurely in changing the country's designation.


    Good Morning, Vietnam

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