afram1's Comments (78)

“How are these 30,000 troops on the ground at the price of a million a head and at risk of their own lives going to secure nuclear weapons in Pakistan. If that's the logic, it's really dumb. Kind of like trying to do brain surgery with a bulldozer. It's not the logic. It's the rhetoric.”

“No $hit, Sherlock.

But evaluating military campaigns in conjunction with whether or not objectives can be achieved is even more vital, and when the geo-political and topographical circumstances all point to a war which cannot be won, it's time to swallow your pride and pull out.”

“Violence is justified because three man preaching various forms of non-violent revolution violently died?”

“Yeah, and a sledgehammer in a chess game doesn't work too well, either.

This has nothing to do with "pacifism" so much as recognizing when military objectives cannot be achieved and resorting to the only sensible option of discontinuing the battle.”

“This has nothing to do with pacifism, you idiot, but merely recognizing when military objectives cannot be achieved, and resorting to the only sensible option of discontinuation.”

“Is cash more important than justice? You would kill because it's cost effective?

The death penalty costs more in appeals, etc. than lifetime imprisonment does.

Since you're so eager to eliminate this country's enemies, maybe you would consider joining the Army and insist on being assigned to the infantry and being deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.”

“Who gets decide who needs to be killed? It's animal stupidity and base fear in action. Someone has to act like a Christian here and turn the other cheek. The only way to move forward, is to move forward, not stay in the moment repeating new iterations of the initial violence ad infinitum.”

“I agree a half assed healthcare bill that benefits no one but the insurance companies is worse than doing nothing. Unfortunately, Obama takes the easier softer way on things like this.”

“Problem is, the marriage license law will always violate the conscience
of society, the majority if only Judeo-Christian values are harmed, the
conscience of the minority if Judeo-Christian marriage is the law of the land.”

“and why should Obama and his administration care what the right thinks of his appointments.

Obama is conducting the presidency like he is still on the campaign trail.

Wake up! you won! now govern please!”

“An ahistorical, and uniformed reply. Rights aren't reserved for some. And if it were truly a 'right' you couldn't horsetrade it, to borrow your phrasing.

Pay attention.”

“NO. Forcing tens of millions of people to purchase overpriced, unreliable for-profit insurance at extortion level rates its not worth that one provision.

At this point I wish progressives would declare war on the mandate for it is clear that we aren't going to get anything that will lower "costs" (a.k.a. exorbitant executive pay and bonuses).

There has been so much talk about the public option but almost none about the mandate. The progressives need to make the mandate the issue now.

It is immoral to force people who cannot afford insurance now to buy for-profit insurance or even a public-option that will be more expensive than private insurance because it is designed to fail.

Since the deal between Obama/Eman­uel/Baucus to trade a mandate for everyone to buy for-profit insurance with no public option or cost controls in exchange for a huge industry campaign contribution is likely now, the least we can do is drop the mandate.

The welfare of poor, working class and middle class people is far more important than having a bill, any bill, for a DLC-to-the-bone, corporate shill of a President to sign.”

“If there's a $10K cap for out-of-pocket expenditures, I assume that does not count premiums paid, only deductibles.

So insurance companies will instead raise premiums to compensate for this cap, and raise deductibles across the board... they'll get their money one way or another, especially with a public option that doesn't make them compete.”

“When, insurance or not, a married couple consisting of a successful lawyer and a (highly paid, when working) writer, are immediately forced into bankruptcy by the medical bills when serious illness calls - when that same couple, day in and day out, cannot afford to spend more than fifty dollars a month, on anything "discretionary," for fun, to relax, or to develop their personal infrastructure, because of the ongoing costs of medical treatments and medication­s... when such things happen - as they do, have, and are, to my wife and I, right now - I'll tell you: the "middle class" is ALREADY living on "third world wages."”

“If having an Af.Am First Family doesn't give people hope, nothing will....If having a President give speech after speech about personal responsibility does nothing..M­aybe the parents should be Guantanamoed too, when their kids start killing other kids.. What would society have to do? Remove these kids from their teenage mothers at birth? That would be where it would have to start, realistically.”