catguy

I think this is one of the saddest posts I've read about Obama's election anywhere. For the first time in three elections, there is no suspicion that the will of the electorate has been interfered with by the Supreme Court or election fraud. The sanctity of the Constitution of the United States has once again been recognized - indeed, the president-elect taught Constitutional Law at the college level. Unlike our lame-duck president, Obama and the Democratic majoritie

Hi, Lulapilgrim - True, "provide for the general welfare" is open to interpretation, and like much of the rest of the Constitution is not specific. I choose to look at the population as a whole, and have given you my interpretation, with which you disagree. Fair enough. True, workers are hired by corporations, and corporations frequently take advantage of them, in general by forcing them to increase their productivity (I think American workers are, by and large, the most prod

Robert Heinlein once said that you should never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time, and it annoys the pig. I'll apply that to trying to have a fact-based discussion with a loyal Bushie. It's a waste of my time, and annoys the Bushie. Signing off on this one. You tell yourself whatever you have to to get through another day of the administration of the worst president in history.

Hi, Lulapilgrim - Hollywood shoots movies overseas (or in Vancouver) or in certain parts of the United States because the countries you mentioned and Vancouver and certain locations within the U.S. give them financial incentives to do so. The labor on an American film is always union, regardless of where it is shot. However, when a film shoot occurs overseas, a lot of the minor acting work can be done by "local hires". As for union costs driving airlines and other companies i

Stats on poverty under Reagan are somewhat confusing, as there are different figures quoted by different sources. Got mine from Cato, taking issue with a Paul Krugman column. According to them (it?), poverty went up under Reagan, peaking in '83, then fell, but was higher at the end of his presidency than it had been at the beginning.

Hi, Lulapilgrim - All unions listed currently work, or have worked, for General Dynamics, one of our biggest defense contractors. I think it is a given that our weapons and weapons systems are among the best in the world. I therefor believe that they are "productive, efficient, and competitive in the world market", as you put it. United Mine Workers of America - Industrial Union of Marine & Shipbuilding Workers of America - United Auto Workers Union - Metal Trades Council of New Londo

Paladin77 As far as protection of our borders goes, I don't think you can blame that on "the liberals", whoever they are, or the environmentalists either. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but was it not President Bush who pushed for an unlimited number of Mexican trucks to be able to operate within the continental United States (or at least the lower 48), with almost no money budgeted for inspecting their cargo? As for the Middle East, it's always had a turbulent history. How coul

How about the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, who build Boeing aircraft? More to come, but that's four so far.

Hi, Lulapilgrim - Screen Actors' Guild - Directors' Guild of America - Writers' Guild of America - all other film or television unions. I think it is safe to say that the United States still leads the way in these forms of entertainment, almost always in terms of profit, and sometimes even in quality of product. I'll spend some time later in the day and see if I can come up with any others. Back to Reagan - the Constitution that any president swears to uphold is suppo

When I say no WMDs were found, I'm quoting President Bush. Best give that argument up. As for Saddam attacking Iran, that was back when we were supporting him, which we did for a number of years. If you examine the diplomatic exchanges that went on between Saddam and the United States before Iraq invaded Kuwait, you could even make a case that we gave him the green light to do so.

Paladin77 Your stated ratinale for the Iraq War keeps changing, but you've still got a long way to go to catch up with President Bush, who I think stated some 27 different reasons for going into Iraq. First was WMDs, which we now know was false, and which was believed to be false by many of us. The Downing Street Memo shows clearly that Bush lied us into the Iraq War. And the complete lack of accountability for the billions of dollars sent into Iraq and lost or stolen makes a

On the other hand, Lulapilgrim, Reagan did a lot of things that didn't serve the people. He was a union-buster (hardly serving "the people" there) and, I believe, began the trend of outsourcing American jobs. He also, through his economic policies that have been worsened by every Republican president since then, resulting in our potentially catastrophic deficit under Dubya. His attack on the Constitution called Iran/Contra was pretty awful, and going to Bitberg Cemetery to lay a wreath where

Hi, Roris1X - Yours is one of the most sensible posts I've read, and I thank you for it.

Hi, Paladin77 - The Army investigation into alleged abuses of prisoners was led by General Antonio Taguba, who at its conclusion stated that the Bush administration "has committed war crimes" in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay "when the Commander-in-chief authorized a systmatic regime of torture." This quote is from Taguba's preface to a report written by the group Physicians for Human Rights, which is entitled "Broken Laws, Broken Lives: Medical Evidence of Torture by US Personn

Terrorism is a tactic, and you can't declare war on a tactic. As you point out, only the dishonest bring up the lie that Saddam was in on 9/11 and had a relationship with Al Qaeda. Funny, all those folks seem to be on your side of the aisle. It is to your great credit that you are not among them. Kudos to you, for real.

Dr. Guy - As you pointed out, you don't have to listen to me, or talk to me either. So, please, do neither. We are mutual annoyances to each other. Why don't we pretend we're in a bar and just sit at separate tables on opposite sides of the room. You need to lower your blood pressure and I need to not be so reminded of seventh-grade tantrums. We should have some grown-ups back in charge next January, and then America can begin the long task of cleaning up the monum

I'm on vacation for the summer, and travel in late July. Okay, Paladin. Please provide documentary evidence of Saddam saying publicly that he would sell of give chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons to any terrorist group who would use them to attack the United States or Israel. Also, I don't, just because you say so, believe that Al Qaeda fighters were receiving medical treatment in Iraq. Evidence, please. As to the first Gulf War, yes, I remember the hype about the moth

I'm on vacation. So many inaccuracies to your piece, I'm not even going to bother. It would be too much like work. Have a nice day.

Hi, Dr. Guy - It is not uncivil to point out that someone is ignorant. I'm frequently ignorant myself, and freely admit it. Case in point - I was defending FDR's policies and gave him credit for ending the Great Depression. One of your compatriots, I think it was ParaTed2k, told me that FDR's policies had actually lengthened the Great Depression. While I don't agree, less than five minutes' research showed me that a number of reputable economists and historians in a certain study sh

Hi, Dr. Guy - One of my points is that our country is becoming less free because of Bush's attacks on the Constitution. As of now, I can say what I want, but let's not forget that after 9/11 it was a Republican who said that Americans needed to be careful what they say. I apparently misinterpreted something you said. When you said that Cindy Sheehan had "stopped being a grieving mother" and was just using her son, I thought you meant that the two were not compatible. I belie

I don't see pursuing a political agenda and being a grieving mother as being mutually exclusive. As you are fond of saying to me, that's your opinion. Sometimes this President's conduct has been so shameful that grieving people decided it was necessary to pursue a political agenda. The "Jersey Girls" come to mind. Do you know who they are and what they did?

Hi, "Kickin'" - I freely admit that you make a good point, and I have no disagreement with your view. I'll make my own, just for the sake of discussion. The first time he met with Mrs. Sheehan was on a day when he met, I believe, with either 16 or 17 other families. It was formal, completely stage-managed, and would have had all of the dignity and pomp that the United States military can bring to such an occasion. I grew up in the Air Force and saw my father, a bird colonel,

After Pearl Harbor, Germany declared war on us and started attacking American shipping. Talking to you is like teaching seventh grade, with one difference. Seventh graders are twelve, and are expected to be ignorant. For adults, ignorance is usually a choice. However, ignorance can be fixed. Take a class, read some books. Make sure you find books that don't have a particular point of view, and read several about the same subject. By the way, I doubt that the Iraqi doctors

Sorry, KFC, that was my carelessness. Yes, that is exactly what I mean. After she had had a chance to get over her grief and ask herself exactly what her son had died for. She couldn't come up with an answer, and apparently neither could he. I think it reflects badly on President Bush that he could not, or would not, look one angry mother in the eye and tell her what her son had died for, particularly when his own service record is so tarnished and no member of his immediate family is

Hi, Grambo_Bastille - I have to agree with you. Took a record budget surplus and ran it into a staggeringly high deficit in only eight years, through both domestic and foreign policy disasters. Launched what most of the world views as an illegal war of aggression on a country that was never shown to be a military threat to us (or anyone else, according to Condi Rice and Colin Powell in 2001), and paid for the war with borrowed money, making him the first pres in history who did not ra