NJYankee

No system is perfect. The question is what is a wise outcome. The world is not white or black. It has shades of grey although many people seem to be blind to the fact. The point that made me think is that much is said of the courts, a lot of it bad...by republicans complaining of judges that legislate from the bench...most were appointed by republicans...maybe its time for democrats to appoint the judges...I guess eventually they'll complain of them being to "letter of the law"! posted 05/06/2008 at 13:25:05

Very good article, good points. Now lets throw in the efficiency factor. You drive a vehicle that gets 9 miles a gallon...instead you drive a vehicle that gives you 27 miles per gallon, not a big deal right considering there are cars that give you more... so assuming you drive equal amounts of miles in the 9 vs the 27 that means that you consume 3 times more in the heavier less efficient vehicle. At $3.50 a gallon that means, using 10,000 miles as a bench mark/yearly, you have approximately 1000 gallons so you have spent ~$3500 in gas, vs ~ $1300 in the more efficient vehicle. So it follows that we can bring down the consumption of gasoline by a third and considering that our oil imports are for gas as stated in the article previously, we could make a dent in the imports and consequently our out lays of curreny. We could as a nation then decide if these monies saved should be put to developing alternatives to oil such as fuel cells, more efiicient gasoline motors, hybrids etc. Of course then we would have to decide to put our actions where our mouths are and get out of the SUV's... Then of course we need a leader that will take us down that road. posted 05/06/2008 at 10:41:00

We need to watch or listen to other media outlets to get a feel for what the rest of the world thinks. BBC is a good alternative. If we continue to rely on the msm and the talking heads then we can't complain if we take for granted the spin that is thrown at us. Sometimes it's difficult to trust outside sources but we have to be able to discern what is spin, fact, fiction and the only way to do this is to have a diverse source of information and news. We have to get rid of the inbedded journalist concept which has now apparently transformed itself into the inbedded talking head at the studio... posted 04/24/2008 at 16:18:55

Nora, the majority of Americans are women. Hence for any candidate to win an election they need a strong backing from women or a I don't care who wins attitude. This post is probably one of worst pieces I've read here...it only adds to the nonsense of discussing race and gender instead of who is the best candidate to lead this nation far away from the current Bush policies and mindset! posted 04/21/2008 at 13:23:35

I never served in 'Nam as we called it when I was a kid. I wasn't of age until after the war ended. I will say this though, I've noticed the better than thou attitude in some of my military friends who are currently officers. Also a very righteuos attidude, it would seem that anyone not in the military doesn't have a clue as to what's going on. Having said this I don't think the answer is reinstating the draft. I'm pretty sure if we are ever attacked that even I at 50 would pick up rifle to defend the country if need be. The answer probably lies somewhere else. Maybe a good start is to better our education system, dedicate some credits to government, history and social studies. During the birth of our nation our fore fathers fought for liberty and justice. I'm sure just as when after Sept 11, 2001 there was a spike in volunteers for our armed forces, that under an enemy attack there would be a similar reaction...the part that we have to understand is; who is the enemy and make darn shure that we have retaliated correctly. If not no justification will be available to us. Sort of sounds like our current situation in Iraq. posted 04/10/2008 at 14:55:13

The general is just a cheer leader. So is the ambassador. Its takes real men of character to admit to a mistake. I wonder how many slogans will come and go if McSame becomes the Commander in Chief of the cheer leaders??? posted 04/08/2008 at 16:29:19

Wow, well said! posted 04/08/2008 at 16:26:43

The more virulent the attack the more truthful the post must be. Who was the president that opened the door to the communist in China, Richard Nixon. Yet this is the same nation beating Buddist monks in Tibet and this republican president hasn't even denounced this situation publicly. These are the communists that are now loaning us the money, together with the Saudis to keep in place the Irak fiasco. Maybe this is why he can't stand in their face. History has a way of repeating itself, so when we see the marines leaving the biggest US embassy in the world from the rooftop at least the choppers will have plenty of space to pick up the citizens of this country in retreat.


The events under way in Basra are similar to the events in Vietnam, we turned over the fighting to the S. Vietnamese who were trained by our military and you know what, these were the Vietcong that killed our soldiers at night. Ask any Vietnem vet if they fully trusted their lives to the S. Vietnamese soldiers when in 'Nam.Frank is correct in saying that McCain wants to revindicate himself for having been taken prisoner and not being out there to win the war. Nobody likes to loose, specially if you've already declared victory and flown onto the deck of the carrier in an arrogant fashion. McCain can not take another defeat,...hence we'll be there for another 95 years, whatever it takes to win... posted 04/03/2008 at 12:06:51

Let me add to my previous post,

Currently the Iraqui army and police , trained by our military, have engaged the Shiite thugs in battle. Since McCain, the commander in chief wannabe, says things are going great. Why is it that the newly trained, for about 3 years now, Iraqui forces can not beat the thugs? Maybe its me but when reports indicate dessertions to the thug's side something can not be going so great. I believe we the people have to be more careful of the initial media reports and subsequent reports. In other words we have to take everything with a grain of salt. McCain is infected with the Westmoreland virus of deception. We have yet to hear any progressive analysis form our other candidates. This would not be troop bashing. It would be reason to leave these people figure out what they want and how to get there. As I have stated previously, when we leave now or in the not to immediate future, nothing imposed on them will stick. They will get back to their petty differences of Shiite vs Sunni and Persian vs Arab! posted 03/30/2008 at 09:13:26

We were also told by the media in the sixties that we were winning the war in Vietnam. When my parents tuned into CBS to watch Walter Cronkite give the latest stats which looked like this:

10 Vietcong Killed
25 NorthVietnamese killed
5 American servicemen Killed

Then one day the war effort was turned over to the South Vietnamese government. Then when all seemed to be going well, the US embassy in Saigon was evacuated. We then realized the truth, after spending countless lives of soldiers and tons of money all this time we were being fed the Westmoreland account of the war.

How many of you think that the above account will repeat itself in Iraq?

After the surge works and the Iraquies take care of themselves, will we end up eventually with a puppet government of Iran or will some revolutionaries, now known as Shiite thugs, as described by current commander in chief today, take over? Time will tell how close history repeats itself...

Maybe Sadam wasn't so bad after all...I mean Kadafi changed his ways and we didn't need to invade! posted 03/28/2008 at 16:58:38

Interesting assertion. These people are not the indians of the wild west my friend. Keep in mind also that this was a preemptive war, so you are stating that we should be viewed as bullies instead of being strong, there is a difference! Bullies eventually get their asses whooped... posted 03/27/2008 at 14:36:01

John McCain is not a leader. He will just continue the current policies or modify them a little as president. I see no out of the box or innovative ideas coming out of this man. Anyone can continue our current misguided course of action. We need a person who can delineate a strategy to exit Iraq, contain Iran. We need a person who can fix the immigration issue, ween us off petroleum, create good quality jobs here in the USA and who can restore the leadership of this country in the world, that's not McCain gaffe or no gaffe. This gentlemen is still living in the Vietnam war era. If anyone has heard any out of the box thinking coming from this candidate please share with me, us. Being a war hero in the 60's really doesn't cut it for the citizens who may be losing their job, about to lose their house to the bank or can't afford health care. Does he have any idea what needs to be done? Arianna this gaffe is just the tip of the I have no clue iceberg, is this country the Titanic?? posted 03/25/2008 at 16:56:57

I don't watch Fox so I wasn't aware of Arianna's predicament. I don't want the meters to include me as a percentage of the viewers who happen to watch FOX. It only adds to the rate they can charge for their advertisements. I will say this however, the recent fiasco where a FOX news anchor abandons the set appears to indicate that they have some reporters who have a conscious and are not totally out of touch with the reality of their broadcasts. Kudos to him.

As for the censuring:

Name calling just turns me off. Using foul language to get a point across doesn't bother me. I had a post censured because I used the word chosen. So its not as simple as one would think. I presume someone of the chosen flagged the post and it was retired.

I have read, learned and changed my views on some aspects due to the insightful posts here. Reading people refer to others as idiots, pigs, etc. may be fun to write and read but it doesn't change anyone's opinion or state of mind. It may say tons about the author. I may chuckle but I prefer a more challenging thought process. posted 03/24/2008 at 13:35:09