Free Republic

Yeah, the Dow is back to where it was 6 years ago. Without the illusion of the dot coms with 26 year old presidents to prop it up.

The cost of housing is higher? Doesn't seem to be hurting home ownership, which it at its highest level in history. Which means more people are getting money back from their mortgage interest.

The 90's are much like my teenage years. I wouldn't care to relive them again.

Let me say one thing in defense of Jimmy Carter.

They named a submarine after him because he was a former Naval submarine commander. And while it's true that as president he cut military spending to the bone....he did beef up our nuclear submarine fleet, including opening a new Trident sub base down in Kings Bay Georgia.

No, I don't think he was a good president. Yes, I think he was naive on Communism and Iran.

Hey, it's better than the hatchet job The History Channel did on him with their "American Presidents" series. They actually made him look worse than Carter.

I'm going by the government's latest report.

Government workers don't make nearly as much as those in comprable positions in the private sector do, so your alleged influx of government jobs wouldn't explain why wealth is at an all time high. Indeed, if government jobs were a greater parter of the mix, wealth should actually go down.

You forget the other side of outsourcing: it controls inflation. If prices are higher, people don't buy, or they buy less. That's very bad for the economy.

We live in the information age now, when non-tangibles like ideas and service are valued commodities.

And how come we weren't wealthier forty years ago, when we were a manufacturing based economy, rather than the service based one we are today?

Nice try.

Net household worth is at an all time high. 15 trillion.

Manufacturing expands for the 32nd month in a row.

Consumer confidence is high.

And wage growth outpaces inflation.

Go sell your gloom somewhere else.

And yet, unemployment is under 5%. Home ownership is at an all time high. The number of high wage jobs has risen, dramatically. Retail sales and new home sales just posted historic highs.

If people are suffering in this economy, the fault might lie more with them.

To win control of Congress, or the White House in 08, the Democrats are going to have to prove they have better ideas. But first, they actually need ideas. Being against everything W. is for isn't an idea.

That, plus the Dems are defending more seats in Congress than the GOP is.

All of the Penn family, as well as Chris's friends, deserve our prayers and sympathy.

Great. So why not put convicted felons on the juries too?

A rapist in court could be guilty, but walk off scott-free, all because some convicted felon jurist with a chip on his shoulders wants to stick it to the man.

Scary stuff.

"I just find it interesting how Carter, Bush I, and Clinton get some of the (obvious) blame for the spread of terrorism (Carter - Iran, Bush I - not taking out Saddam, Clinton - too many to list) but Reagan seems to fly beneath the radar on this topic."

It might have something to do with the fact that he was also the first of those presidents you mentioned to actually fight back. Remember how Navy jets forced down the hijackers of the Achille Lauro? Remember what his response was to Libya's bombing of the Berlin disco that killed US soldiers?

Our biggest mistakes in the WOT were committed during the Bush I and Clinton administration. We shouldn't have been involved in Somalia, or Bosnia or Kosovo. We should have been involved in Afghanistan. And probably more with Iraq too.

"If Archie is flat character what can you say about the characters on the TV shows from the 50s and 60s?"

I can say they're flat too. The difference is, they weren't based on reality to start with.

I agree the show was groundbreaking - covering controversial topics of the day. But the stereotype of the dumb racist conservative has been around at least since Ike was president, and AITF didn't exactly push the needle there.

"Archie became less of a bigot."

If I had told you that in later episodes, "Amos N' Andy'" became less of racist show, would you find that acceptable?

Yeah, Archie is funny, and even lovable, in the same way the blackface characters in Amos N' Andy were. The audience is laughing at their percieved deficiencies, not with them.

My point is that today with the passage of time, the stereotypes render the characters on both shows flat. People are far more complex, regardless of their idealogy.

"I disagree with your assessment completely. Archie was always protrayed as having a heart of gold beneath it all. At the end of the day, the character would have done anything for any of his family, including his son-in-law, and that was made plain to the viewers. The character of Archie was very endearing."

The same could be said of Lassie, Gilligan, or Barney Fife.

The point is, racism and ignorance aren't endearing. And the fact that they were assigned to a conservative character is neither accurate, nor a coincidence.

"Nonsense. The show portrayed Archie and Meathead as both being wide of the Mark. Archie was portrayed as being an outright bigot in a time where it wasn't that hard to find outright bigots. And Michael was portrayed as so liberal he couldn't tie his own shoes without encountering a moral dilema."

The difference is, Mike Stivic's flaws were portrayed as endearing, When MIke screwed up, it's because he was usually too nice for his own good. And he usually learns from his mistakes.

Archie on the other hand, was an ignorant racist, and he pretty much stayed that way through the show's run.

I read his book "America's Endangered Values." Carter's got a lot of anger in him. I think the praise he's recieved from the MSM has blinded him to this fact.

He refers to Cuban-Americans staunchly opposed to establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba as 'militants.'

He's personally against abortion, but doesn't seem to have a high opinion of pro-life activists.

On the other hand, he's against the death penalty, and praises the anti-death penalty crowd.

He had four criteria to define a fundamentalist. I remember two of them: a fundamentalist sees things in terms of good and evil, and anyone who disagrees with him is evil. By that definition, Howard Dean, the chairman of his party, is a fundamentalist.


Though he doesn't mention it, one of Carter's favorite movies is Michael Moore's F-911. Whatever one thinks of W., F-911 is filled with hate and lies.

And no ex president in my lifetime as bashed a sitting prez like Carter has.

So what's the Democrats' solution to help the middle class - take more of their money in taxes?

I've never understood this logic.

Truly, the Democratic Party is one that is ruled by feelings, and not intellect.
There are foreign nationals who are trying to kill us by the thousands, or the millions. The majority of American people call such individuals terrorists. The Democrats call them victims.

Most folks, no matter what their misgivings with George W. Bush, understand that he is trying to protect this nation from such terrorists. They would not look kindly on a party that would attack him with impeachment.

You'd think after such miserable setbacks, the Democrats would get a clue. They just can't help themselves.

Did Peyton Manning get any more mobile? Did the Colts' offensive line get any stronger since they last played the Jags? Because those two factors explain why Jacksonville matches up with the Colts - by pressuring Manning and forcing him to make mistakes.

All the stats about offense and defense go out the window when you play your rival.

The Jags are ready. The Jags are prepared. Unlike the Colts, they've been ready for this rematch since Indianapolis. The entire city of Jacksonville is stoked.

The Jags win in Indianapolis the year before was not an aberration, nor was the Jags win in Jacksonville the year before that. Even the two losses in between were close.

The Jags know how to play the Colts.

Despite the loss of Leftwich, the Jags too, have improved since they played in Indy. Our offensive production has picked up. Our offensive line is much better than the one we had in Indy. And we have a scrambling quarterback. Granted Garrard doesn't have Leftwich's arm. But against a speedy defense like the Colts, his mobility will be an advantage.

Utter domination by the Colts against the Jags? Please.

When have they dominated the Jags in the Del Rio era? Indy's had their worst games against the Jags - and that's not a coincidence.

The rest of the league is intimidated by the Colts. The Jags aren't. They hate the Colts, and they'll be ready in Alltel on Sunday.