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On your larger point, however, that we should not cast aspersions at anyone else running... I can’t go along with that.I’ll say what I think about Mitt and Huck and I won’t hold my tongue on either of them.

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All I am saying is that we should spend most of our time in support of our candidate and less attacking the other, particularly in primaries. A lot of people are going to support Mitt and Huck. If their candidates lose, they need to have an emotional reason to get on board and support the winner.

Not to be the martyr here but if I voted for McCain, surely you wouldn’t vote for Obama if Mitt or Huck were running?? I still have nightmares about voodoo economics.

Is 0bama smarter than Sarah?

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Well, that is the trap. Clinton, Carter and Wilson being as smart as they were did not help them be effective Presidents. But I am not sure that the problem was them being too smart. Some very smart people have been great Presidents and have helped the causes we all believe in.

I am equally certain that the attacks on Palin have not resulted from fears about a lack of intelligence. She is being taken seriously by the left because she represents a real threat to them.

My original comment about her not being particularly smart was made noting that one does not have to be a genius or Ivy League educated to understand what is at issue and how to be an effective governor.

In the end, I again simply state that I have issues with her limited experience at the national level and how effective she would be in international affairs. These are the same complaints I have about our current President who in addition seems to feel the political and economic structure in this country is not to his suiting, something that Sarah Palin does not share.

The interesting question is whether indeed she will run. What she has done recently seems to me to be a lot more sophisticated and savvy than what she demonstrated a few years ago. Perhaps the attacks and the experience she is gaining now may give her all the tools to run a successful presidential campaign.

Either way, someone is spending a lot of time and money going after her and Hollywood is right about one thing: there is no such thing as bad publicity.

One last question: When does the indictment of John Kerry for hunting hit the New York Times? Sorry for asking but I let my subscription lapse.

Like I said, she’s a lot smarter than you giver her credit for. You have definitely fallen for the anti-Palin hype.

Of course you have the right to support who you want. Palin hasn’t even said she’s going to run yet, so I’m looking at others too.
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I have tried to form my opinions about Palin without the aid of the left or ex-POWS turned U.S. Senators. But you are spot on regarding the comment about the conservative split leading to McCain. Voting for that clown was as difficult as any vote I ever cast.

C.S. Lewis noted in Mere Christianity that the Christian faith consists of many “houses” and it is up to a Christian to find the right house for him/her and support that house without attacking the other Christian homes because the attack would affect every house. The same is true for conservatives. I like Sarah Palin. I wish she were still governor. I like her positions. She is not my first choice. But that does not make her anything worse than my second or third choice.

If anything I typed offended you, that was not my intent.

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None taken. I hope you are correct about Palin because if she does run, it will be the biggest media firestorm since Barry Goldwater. Bush taught us the old adage is true and regardless of the world, it is the U.S. economy that controls elections and Obamba, to say the least, is vulnerable.

The irony to me is that the attacks on Palin for a show that depicts her in a non-political setting are similar to those attacking her daughter when she was a dance contestant. They help her and push the perception of the left further left, something the Democratic party does not need.

Either way, the campaign would be all about Sarah and not about Obama’s failures. If she is up for that challenge and can ignore and overcome it the way Reagan did, she could win. If she were to give a Goldwater, “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” go to hell speech, look out.

I mentioned Carter and Wilson being smart. No one in the White House was smarter than Reagan with the possible exception of FDR. Both led with conviction and charm, a devastating and effective combination.

Being right is essential but not enough. I am certain we both have many friends who voted for Obama and are looking for a way out. As long as Obama is the story, he will lose.

If anything I typed offended you, that was not my intent.

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None taken. I hope you are correct about Palin because if she does run, it will be the biggest media firestorm since Barry Goldwater. Bush taught us the old adage is true and regardless of the world, it is the U.S. economy that controls elections and Obamba, to say the least, is vulnerable.

The irony to me is that the attacks on Palin for a show that depicts her in a non-political setting are similar to those attacking her daughter when she was a dance contestant. They help her and push the perception of the left further left, something the Democratic party does not need.

Either way, the campaign would be all about Sarah and not about Obama’s failures. If she is up for that challenge and can ignore and overcome it the way Reagan did, she could win. If she were to give a Goldwater, “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” go to hell speech, look out.

I mentioned Carter and Wilson being smart. No one in the White House was smarter than Reagan with the possible exception of FDR. Both led with conviction and charm, a devastating and effective combination.

Being right is essential but not enough. I am certain we both have many friends who voted for Obama and are looking for a way out. As long as Obama is the story, he will lose.

Many vets stop hunting after facing the steel and blood of war, but there is no comparison to normal, healthy killing of animals for sustenance-you eat meat, therefore you kill, if by proxy.

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You are correct about there being no comparison. But I shuddered when Palin’s caribou went down. That says nothing about her. I don’t hunt deer anymore but was amazed at the idiots around here protesting limited hunting of deer to simply keep them from starving.

That said, I still remember my Dad coming back from the old Chicago Stock Yards where a newly designed method of killing the cattle was being patented. He was a WWII vet and a patent lawyer. He simply said that whenever the new method did not work, a huge guy with a sledge hammer would step up and nail the steer between the eyes. His dinner that night was vegetarian consisting of grain being distilled and aged in Scotland.

I think it was William Buckley who said that animals do not have rights. People have responsibilities. We are stewards and have a right to make use of the fruits of the Earth yet the responsibility to do so in a way that protects the future generations. Palin pointed that out in the program.

Will leave you with this I just got:

Texas Traffic Stop

This old story out of Texas. Seems a guy makes a rolling stop at a stop sign, and gets pulled over by a local policeman. Guy hands the cop his driver’s license, insurance verification, plus his concealed carry permit.

“Okay, Mr. Smith,” the cop says, “I see your CCW permit. Are you carrying today?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Well then, better tell me what you got.”

Smith says, “Well, I got a .357 revolver in my inside coat pocket. There’s a 9mm semi-auto in the glove box. And, I’ve got a .22 magnum derringer in my right boot.”

“Okay,” the cop says. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, back in the trunk, there’s an AR15 and a shotgun. That’s about it.”

“Mr. Smith, are you on your way to or from a gun range...?”

“Nope.”

“Well then, what are you afraid of....?”

“Not a damned thing...”

Palin is smarter than you give her credit for. You are falling for the anti-Palin hype.

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No she isn’t. She is not dumb and she is smart enough to be an effective governor. She does not try to present herself as such. I also appreciate that Jimmy Carter and Woodrow Wilson were two of the smartest Presidents we ever had.

I give her credit for her values, her commitment to her family, her faith, her staying on point and ignoring the storm around her. I worry about her lack of experience and ability to unite a party and co-opt a Congress the way Reagan did. Leadership at the national level is very different from that at the state level.

But, that is what primaries are for. If she runs, I will vote for someone else by saying positive things for the candidate of my choice and nothing against Palin. If she wins, I will support her in November.

Animals are obviously thinking beings and need to be protected. We are way behind the times. In Europe, laws have been passed protecting the inhuman treatment of plants. The study of Plant Consciousness has come to mean that plants are sentient life forms that feel, know, and are conscious.

Although Europe has spawned two world wars resulting in the deaths of over one hundred million people, they can be proud that dandelions, crab grass and bushes have a right to exist too. How many countless millions of weeds in this country of been tortured and killed without a second thought?

If the cradle of democracy, the Enlightenment, the printing press, beurre blanc sauce and the bikini have realized the need for respecting the rights of kudzu, I would suggest that caribou without question should be given the right to vote and be part of the Obama health care initiative.

You have it wrong. If you plot Al Gore’s time line for global warming with the increased cost of power to hear out homes, it works out even. As the Earth warms, we need less heat and the total bill is the same.

There is no need to worry about the price of gas as there is no reason to go out and buy Chinese made products laced with asbestos.

Finally, the Obama regulations will help lower the cost of heating our homes. There are several web sites showing us how to make logs out of paper. Simply write to the government and ask for the regulations. When the truck delivers them, convert them to paper logs and burn them in the fireplace. Take the savings and mail it to the EPA to cover your emission fines and once again, break even.

What is the problem?

Your indifference to the plight of animals shows how inhuman you are. We should all be guided by liberal humanism best exemplified by the Great Barbara Hershey who changed her name to Barbara Seagull noting:

in remorse after killing (a seagull) in a movie location accident on New York’s Fire Island. “I felt her spirit enter me,” she explained later. “It was the only moral thing to do.”

Good thing for Barbara she didn’t kill a tufted titmouse.

People swear in public to bring attention to themselves and to show how they are not constrained by the normal rules of decent behavior. The alternative, content, is beyond them. They have already gotten to the conclusion and need not explain themselves with facts.

I continue to be fascinated by the left’s hatred of Palin. She isn’t all that smart. She lacks experience. She is not particularly sophisticated and is certainly not an intellect. Maybe that’s it. When an average American woman can spot the liberal fallacies and effectively voice them in public, that is the threat. When an average American woman can do a better job as governor by simply using basic principles, that is a threat.

As for hunting, I stopped after I was in the military. I just can’t do it. But I love steaks and detest dog killers.

The notion of de mortuis nil nisi bonum, not speaking ill of the dead, reflects on our conduct, not that of the deceased. You don’t kick someone when they are down. You don’t beat up someone who can’t defend themselves. That’s who we are and doing so hurts us.

I am a Viet Nam vet and have a lot of problems with diplomats. Holbrooke’s policies are far left of mine. But we can voice that belief without personalizing it at this point. In the end, Holbrooke had no policy. He voiced a policy, that of the Democratic left and I strongly disagree with it. When the Democrats were not controlling the White House, he was out of the diplomatic corps and for good reason. The reality is that policy will not change with his passing and someone else will step up and support Obama/Clinton dogma.

I am sorry for his family’s loss. I did not like his politics.

Not so. It is a great idea. I was in Viet Nam and our group was very careful only to shoot at NVA who were shooting at us first. For anyone else who was shooting at us, we would urge them to attend counseling for aggression and antisocial behavior.

I’m still trying to figure out how John (is it Abel or Cain) from Arizona is telling us how great and safe things are as he is walking in the middle of countless guards all the while he is wearing a flak vest.

I thought Nancy looked pretty sexy in that Irani photo op.

Just received this note: Sounds like a plan!

Subject: Trash detail


I have a friend who is president of his homeowner's association down in Washington. They are having a terrible problem with trash on the side of the road that is around his association's homes. The reason according to (my friend) is, there is being built just next to them, six new homes.....big ones! He said the trash is coming from the Mexican work crews working at the construction sites. (McDonald bags, Burger King wrappers, etc). He has pleaded with the site supervisors and the general contractor to no avail, called the City, County, and the Police and got no help.
So..................They organized about twenty folks, named themselves The "Inner Neighborhood Services" to go out at lunch time and "police" the trash themselves. It is what they did while picking up the trash that is great.
They got some navy blue baseball caps and had the initials "INS" in gold put on the caps. It doesn't take a rocket scientist, however, to understand what they hoped people would think it means. Well the day after their first pick up detail, with them wearing their caps and some carrying cameras; 46 out of 68, of the construction workers did not show up for work the next morning!!!!!!!!.........and haven't come back yet!!!!! It has been ten days.
Now the General Contractor, I understand is madder than hell, but can't say anything publicly, because he could be busted for hiring "illegal aliens". But there is no more trash - all the home owners really wanted.

Many suspect that he was trying to make a point, to wit: the U.S. did not need large ground forces for the transformed military. Many suspect that's why 1AD's deployment was delayed and 1st Cav's was cancelled.

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Yup. I also think that while he is very loyal, he would not have stuck around if he didn't buy into the program, this assuming he didn't come up with it. But the reality of the decision to go into Iraq in the first place with France, Germany and Russia watching our back (or perhaps us turning our back on them allowing them to stick it to us is a better phrase!) is what has come back to haunt us. While it is great have England and our other great allies:
Monaco, Nauru,Tuvalu,San Marino,Liechtenstein,The Marshall Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, Maldives, Malta and too many other great nations to count, it's still us versus the world. Rummy didn't make that decision and that one hurts.

I would like to track down the genius that based a policy on The pie in the sky belief that no overwhelmingly superior occupational force would be needed or the world would help if such a force was in fact was needed. Again, a political decision and one I do not know if he was in on. Worst of all? if it wasn't him, it was someone further up the ladder. No help is on the way.

"fired from their jobs as meat cutters"
MEAT CUTTERS?!! What about the health issue? OMG, how perilous hiring undoc immigrants to handle fresh meat! YIKES!

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Ahhhhhhh, the source of mad cow disease!

15 down, 6,234,978 to go:



15 immigrants fired after attending rally



Page 1 of 1

The Associated Press

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 6:10 a.m. ET

DETROIT (AP) -- Fifteen immigrant women were fired from their jobs as meat cutters after attending a protest for immigrant rights last month.

The women had been told they would be terminated if they missed work on the day of the March 27 rally in Detroit, said Jay Bonahoom, general manager of Wolverine Packing Co.

But the workers said Monday that the women received no such warning. They would not have skipped the morning shift if they knew they would have been fired for attending the rally, said Elena Herrada, an activist trying to get the women's jobs back.

The workers had been told, "written and verbally," on the Friday before the protest that their attendance was mandatory on the day of the rally, Bonahoom told the Detroit Free Press.

The fired workers were natives of Mexico. Many had worked at Wolverine Packing for several years, and some were undocumented immigrants, Herrada said.

They were fired "for standing up for their rights," she said.

America needs a political revolution now, or we will forever be on the road toward becoming just like France.
I agree. I feel somewhat betrayed by the GOP this time around, but a third party is too much of a longshot, so we MUST somehow hold them accountable.

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No need for a third party. The Democrats will help:

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash1hr.htm
Dem Senate Leader Harry Reid: 'Our Federal Wallet Stretched To Limit By Illegal Aliens Getting Welfare'

'Even worse, Americans have seen heinous crimes committed by individuals who are here illegally'

August 5, 1993

The Office of Sen. Harry Reid issued the following:

In response to increased terrorism and abuse of social programs by aliens, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) today introduced the first and only comprehensive immigration reform bill in Congress.

Currently, an alien living illegally in the United States often pays no taxes but receives unemployment, welfare, free medical care and other federal benefits. Recent terrorist acts, including the World Trade Center bombing, have underscored the need to keep violent criminals out of the country.

Reid's bill, the Immigration Stabilization Act of 1993, overhauls the nation's immigration laws and calls for a massive scale-down of immigrants allowed into the country from approximately 800,000 to 300,000.

The bill also changes asylum laws to prevent phony asylum seekers. Reid said the U.S. open door policy is being abused at the expense of honest, working citizens.

"We are a country founded upon fairness and justice," Reid said. "An individual in real threat of torture or long-term incarceration because of his or her political beliefs can still seek asylum. But this bill closes the door to those who want to abuse America's inherent generosity and legal system."

Reid's bill also cracks down on illegal immigration. The 1990 census reported 3.3 million illegal aliens in America. Recent estimates indicate about 2.5 million immigrants illegally entered the United States last year.

"Our borders have overflowed with illegal immigrants placing tremendous burdens on our criminal justice system, schools and social programs," Reid said. "The Immigration and Naturalization Service needs the ability to step up enforcement.

"Our federal wallet is stretched to the limit by illegal aliens getting welfare, food stamps, medical care and other benefits often without paying any taxes.

"Safeguards like welfare and free medical care are in place to boost Americans in need of short-term assistance. These programs were not meant to entice freeloaders and scam artists from around the world. "Even worse, Americans have seen heinous crimes committed by individuals who are here illegally," Reid said.

Specific provisions of Reid's Immigration Stabilization Act include the following:

-- Reduces annual legal immigration levels from approximately 800,000 admissions per year to about 300,000. Relatives other than spouse or minor children will be admitted only if already on immigration waiting lists and their admission does not raise annual immigration levels above 300,000.

-- Reforms asylum rules to prevent aliens from entering the United States illegally under phony "asylum" claims.

-- Expands list of felonies considered "aggravated" felonies requiring exclusion and deportation of criminal aliens. Allows courts to order deportation at time of sentencing.

-- Increases penalties for failing to depart or re-entering the United States after a final order of deportation order. Increases maximum penalties for visa fraud from five years to 10 years.

-- Curtails alien smuggling by authorizing interdiction and repatriation of aliens seeking to enter the United States unlawfully by sea. Increases penalties for alien smuggling.

-- Adds "alien smuggling" to the list of crimes subject to sanctions under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Expands the categories of property that are forfeited when used to facilitate the smuggling or harboring of illegal aliens.

-- Clarifies that a person born in the United States to an alien mother who is not a lawful resident is not a U.S. citizen. This will eliminate incentive for pregnant alien women to enter the United States illegally, often at risk to mother and child, for the purpose of acquiring citizenship for the child and accompanying federal financial benefits.

-- Mandates that aliens who cannot demonstrably support themselves without public or private assistance are excludable. This will prevent admission of aliens likely to be dependent on public financial support. This requirement extends to the sponsor of any family sponsored immigrant.

Your points are dead on and the comment was tongue in cheek. I think we all agree that this thing works best when everyone is rowing in the same direction. What really bothers me is your point about the micromanaging issue. I have worked with him long enough to know that that is not his style. Replacing him does not guarantee that the micromanaging stops.

What's wrong with the military being in charge of itself and calling the shots?

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Not sure but I think I read something about it in the U.S. Constitution.