Mercy!

Regarding his saying he had a bomb - the statement one of the officials made at that press conference type of thing yesterday was very carefully worded. The official didn't say the person said he had a bomb. I believe he said that the man said something "consistent" with having a bomb.

Two words: eminent domain. Be very worried. Couldn't resist on that one. Anyway, re "private" property, my response to Rex applies.

So if I poured a legal substance in your coffee which made you ill, and made you drink it every morning as a condition of keeping your job, or required that you swallow, oh, 10 aspirin per day, that would be okay? Of course not. That would be ludicrous, wouldn't it? And one more stab at the organizing thing. I'm sorry, but in this real world people who attempt to organize for more traditional and accepted reasons, often end up being let go in a hurry. And finally, do you think that government has no right to regulate the electrical wiring, or the safe storage of foods, or the disposal of wastes or any number of other things at these places? In other words, your private property trumps safety every time? Remember, these are not private residences. They are public accomodations.

I think they did the math and realized that 75-80% of their constituents do not smoke. I don't care what their motivation was, since they did the right thing for the society which they were elected to serve.

I rarely use the word “elitist,” but I really consider all those folks who tell the millions of employees who have to suffer the health and just plain quality-of-life consequences due to environmental tobacco smoke that they should either quit or organize to be an elitist position. (what a badly-constructed sentence, but you get my drift, I hope). Very few of the people who advocate the quit or organize position, I suspect, have to spend every hour of their work days under similar conditions. They are already protected. This is a public health issue, plain and simple.

Not if I work there. But that wasn't the argument that I was responding to.

Not everyone who consumes alcohol does so to excess. EVERYONE who smokes, pollutes the surrounding airspace.

At what age did you cease to be young?

Has a couple of compromises, but it looks like hospitality employees finally won't have to choose between their jobs and their health. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/c...ll=chi-news-hed

This guy was hip before there was a hop: If anybody’s interested, there’s a wonderful New Yorker profile of Kinky Friedman here that mentions two of my favorite songs from the olden days of Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys: “They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “Asshole from El Paso.” Perhaps it’s time for an update on the political progress of the Kinkster’s quest for governor of Texas. I’m surprised Tex or Kap haven’t kept us informed.

To keep this on the political track – the Captain and Tennille actually sang this mess at the White House, at a state dinner for Queen Elizabeth II. Muskrat Love by Captain & Tennille Words and Music: Willis Alan Ramsay Muskrat, muskrat candlelight Doin’ the town and doin’ it right In the evenin’ It’s pretty pleasin’ Muskrat susie, muskrat sam Do the jitterbug out in muskrat land And they shimmy And sammy’s so skinny And they whirled and they twirled and they tangoed Singin’ and jingin’ the jango Floatin’ like the heavens above It looks like muskrat love Nibbling on bacon, chewin’ on cheese Sammy says to susie honey, would you please be my missus? And she say yes With her kisses And now he’s ticklin’ her fancy Rubbin’ her toes Muzzle to muzzle, now anything goes As they wriggle, and sue starts to giggle And they whirled and they twirled and they tangoed Singin’ and jingin’ the jango Floatin’ like the heavens above It looks like muskrat love

I’m glad I didn’t let you down. Look, Nuke, it’s not a “school of thought.” It is a cottage industry of conspiracy theorists. I really, really don’t want to play. Anyway, I’ve got to go. I’ve got a date with Tex on the grassy knoll. We’re going to compare our JFK Polaroids.

Why, yes. Yes I do.

From the looks of things in this thread, no one actually bothered to listen to the interview with Howard Dean, am I right? So aside from the usual depressing name-calling - which, by the way, always seems to come from one side in these “discussions” - you seemed to have picked up one sentence as the whole take-away message – “The idea that we are going to win this war is an idea that is unfortunately just plain wrong.” Well, will everyone who believes that the present Iraq situation will be solved militarily by the United States please raise their hands. Remember, even the Bush Administration does not make this claim. So what has Howard Dean said that makes him worthy of all the bad mouthing going on here? Here’s some of what I heard. Dean explained that his plan and that of Rep. Murtha relied on the analysis of an Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan Administration, Lawrence Korb, whose report was recently published. I don’t know if Dean got all the troop figures exactly right, but he described: -A strategic redeployment over a period of two years -Bringing the National Guard home within 6 months. -Redeploying troops to Afghanistan or someplace else nearby where they actually want us -He said that President Bush got rid of Saddam Hussein and that was a great thing. But it could have been done in a very different way -He said that Bush has a permanent commitment to a failed strategy. Duh. Oh, and he also said: When he ended the interview, Dean again mentioned the 25000 which was an obvious reference back to his earlier statement. It is well known that our leaders knew the Viet Nam war was not winnable for many years before they admitted as much. It is commonly accepted that tens of thousands of the 58000 Americans who died there did so after our leaders knew the cause was lost. So can you tell me what about that makes him, or Rep. Murtha, or me, or the millions of Americans who agree with some or all of this position pieces of s***, or assholes? But if you can't reply without profanity or vulgar names or a few facts, please don't bother.

I'm mad as faux and I'm just not going to take it anymore!

Anyone? EDIT: http://www.nappies.org

When I was Googling Lieberman’s wife’s name to make sure I spelled it correctly above, I found it on the guest list for the White House dinner honoring Prince Charles and Camilla earlier this month. I spotted just one other elected Democratic official aside from Joe amongst all the names. I guess the President likes to give props to a fellow-traveler where he can. http://www.c-span.org/executive/statedinner.asp And it was just heartwarming for me to see that not only was Ms. Mary Cheney invited, but that she brought her *cough* real good friend *cough* “Ms. Heather Poe (Guest).” I guess their sort is only teed up as an abomination before God and a threat to marriages everywhere during an election campaign. You go girls!

Back in, well whenever it was that Joe was the Veep candidate – an acquaintance said to me, “I never thought I’d live to see the day when the name ‘Hadassah’ and ‘wife of the vice presidential candidate’ were uttered in the same breath.”

I read your linked summary. Didn't find the whole speech. Didn't see any plan. Does Joe have a plan? What is Joe's plan?

Do you smoke?

Here. I think you’ll find this link helpful, cause I know you must be getting awfully tired of all the pimpin’ and whorin’ talk about just one woman. Gold Star Families for Peace Why don’t you contact some of these families – there’s a nice selection of mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers – who’ve lost loved ones in the war. Each of you can give ‘em a big ol' piece of your mind. Better yet, why not search some out, go knock on their doors, and say those vile things to their faces. And be sure to wear your combat ribbons when you go, ya hear? Don’t worry. They’re probably all whores, pimps or mindless puppets, just like Cindy. Go get ‘em, big guys. P.S., Now that well over a majority of the population wants the troops home next year, you're going to be pretty busy calling everyone out.

How about ANY link supporting your stance? Exactly what is your stance, anyway? All I got from your posts in this thread was sarcasm. Your usual response recently is to claim that the Republicans and Democrats are just the same and equally bad. Well, I don’t buy that. But regardless, it’s not up to those who identify as liberal or progressive or Democratic to prove your point for you. Your (and others') constant repetition that something is so just because you say so doesn’t count as backing up any of your assertions. Got a Democratic congressman who just got indicted for taking at least 2.4 mil in bribes? Post the story. Got a Democratic administration that just botched the response to our biggest natural disaster? Post the story. Do you have any examples that don’t date back to last century and include Clinton’s blow job? Or Teddy Kennedy? Some things are NOT balanced “on the one hand this, but on the other hand that.” If nothing else, the fact that one party holds both the White House and the Congress should make that clear. I think there is massive evidence that this administration has been a disaster for us at home and abroad, and people have offered many examples in many threads. So yes, I’m feeling negative. You folks who feel differently, what’s stopping you from posting all those positive FACTS in rebuttal?

But I know that "We Do Not Torture" because my President tells me so.

The human mind has an amazing capacity for deceit. Here’s Duke back in July assuring his constituents of his blamelessness and wagging his finger at the the media for good measure.

I'm not totally, 100%, absobloominlutely positive. But I think I'm going to love Jim Thome, too.