likearock

I don't believe such organizations are representative of Middle Eastern culture, any more than the KKK, Timothy McVeigh or Ted Kaczynski are representative of American culture. If we blame the actions of extremism on an entire culture, we should not be surprised if we are judged the same illogical way. Your analogy is bogus for the following reason. The U.S. doesn't have scores of religious and educational institutions that celebrate McVeigh, Kaczynski and their underlying philosophy. In the Middle East, by contrast, there are a great many mosques and madrassas that do just that for their extremists. Their extremism is much more integrated into the overall culture than ours.

I'm not and never have been a republican. And I don't, like some people, think this issue is necessarily a killer for Obama. But I do think it's a legitimate issue. And I don't think I'm the only one in America, who might otherwise support him, but would like a little more transparency as to what drew him into such a long association with a church led by someone who sounds so similar to Farrakhan.

Perhaps, perhaps not. The fact that Obama was brought up by a single mom is well known. Equally well known is the prominence of this Reverend in so many aspects of his life. You don't base a book called "The Audacity of Hope" upon the teachings of someone who is not a major influence upon you. Guilt by association - it's The American Way Pay attention, John: That's hardly guilt by association.

Perhaps, perhaps not. The fact that Obama was brought up by a single mom is well known. Equally well known is the prominence of this Reverend in so many aspects of his life. You don't base a book called "The Audacity of Hope" upon the teachings of someone who is not a major influence upon you.

Indeed the Chinese authorities were aware of her statement. But their reaction was to the foreign press reaction much more to a domestic reaction. That it was, as it allowed me to see what I had missed at the concert. But again, I doubt the people who watch it on the internet are the ones taking to the streets. As much as I would like to give Bjork credit starting a Tibetan Tea Party, I think she had very, very little influence on the events. Rather, I would look at anniversary dates and events in India having played a much, much bigger role in the timing of the recent events. You may be right. But that just covers the Tibetan side. There's no way of knowing if Bjork's actions hadn't added that extra jolt of anxiety in the mindset of the Chinese authorities so that they were just a little quicker on the trigger amidst a peaceful protest.

There's a difference here. Wright is not just a supporter, not just a friend. He's a major influence on Obama. From what I can see, the guy is as close to a real father figure as Obama has ever had. Which probably goes a long way to explaining how willingly the latter has been able to turn a blind eye to the former for so long.

I wonder how she feels about recent events. Was it just a coincidence or did her statement have an effect on the psychology of the Tibetans on one hand and of the Chinese authorities on the other? I doubt she had any incidence on the events. Almost no one among the people at the concert noticed her bit, and the few who did were expats (Tibet = Xizang in Chinese, so Chinese people have no clue what TIbet means). First of all, I specifically talked about the psychology of Tibetans and the Chinese authorities. Certainly they were aware of her statement. Moreover, her actions at the concert were widely disseminated on the Internet. As much as the Chinese try to crack down, I doubt they've been totally successful. And I wouldn't be surprised if there were more than a handful of satellite dishes in the mountains of Tibet.

I agree with you. However, it's not possible to say with complete certainty that things wouldn't be just as bad or worse had we never gone to Iraq. Personally, I'm okay with that uncertainty and willing to concede it's a wash either way. However, I'd still like the troops out of Iraq for the simple reason that then they'll stop dying there.

Absolutely, your priest was more unsavory. And I don't think think for a minute that Wright's rantings reflect Obama's true beliefs. But we're considering this guy for the next President of the United States. It's a reasonable question to ask why Wright, so obviously filled with rage at the U.S. and white people in particular, would have such high degree of appeal to Obama.

No, but they should be aware of it, which Obama somehow claims not to be the case. And it's not like this was activity that the church tried in any way to hide: the DVDs of the sermons were readily available. There's a order of magnitude difference when you go from a mere supporter to someone who you claim to be your spiritual mentor, who's the main inspiration for your only published work, who presided over your marriage ceremony and your children's baptisms. The point is: what exactly does Obama see in this guy? If there are any of his sermons that show him in a better, more charitable light, shouldn't the campaign be displaying them as part of its damage control?

Or 3) It's more difficult for them to attack us here so, if we weren't over there, we'd be attacked less overall.

I wonder how she feels about recent events. Was it just a coincidence or did her statement have an effect on the psychology of the Tibetans on one hand and of the Chinese authorities on the other?

Sure. Now answer the question- explain how the war in iraq has not made the us homeland safer. Or admit that your question was also unanswerable. It's logically impossible to prove a negative. That's why it's the onus of affirmative argument to provide evidence.

That's a cheap shot in this case. Jimmy has filled out his profile completely, including full name and dropzone. He also makes a point of inviting people there if they want to discuss this further. Believe me, if anyone wants to take him up, you won't see any difference from what he says here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q49Ly5CwkvI This guy makes me nostalgic for Jesse Jackson. I think it's fair game to take Obama on for this one. How could he have attended this church for 20 years and not noticed what was going on?

Because they're not remotely the same, though with each year, becomes closer to relevance. No draft. Fatalities drastically less unless you compare the early Vietnam war before we sent the whole damn army over. Iraq has been at full strength, or thereabouts, from the beginning. In Vietnam we were fighting a nation in the form of North Vietnam. Their troops could retreat to home. In this war, we're occupying all of it. The comparisons (46-60) he listed would apply to any significant war. Wars are expensive. Fatalities rise as boundaries become entrenched. Leadership doesn't want to harm support by taxing more to pay for it. Dehumanize the enemy. War is never a picnic. And what exactly is the point to make the comparison? To make it last 10,000 days, or seem great that we're not even close to that number yet? All good points. Unfortunately, there is one similarity between Iraq and Vietnam that trumps all the differences: it's going to be hard as hell to get out, no matter who the next President is. The term quagmire, loaded as it is, is appropriate for both situations.

Wow, an Israeli website that documents Palestinian casualties in a way that doesn't celebrate them. What a concept.

If you're basing that comment SOLELY within the confines of their profession, then I agree. Juxtapose that with Kanye West putting both feet in his mouth up to the hips during the Katrina telethon. There's a reason why the album is called "The Joshua Tree" and not "Bono's Best Political Rants" - peoply pay to hear him sing, not to go on about his political cause du jure. I would venture to say that some people do come to hear him speak about those political causes. Clearly, not all people though. It's interesting that all the examples given so far of objectionable speech that is "outside of the confines of their profession" are left wing examples. What about a musician who says a few words to praise Jesus or to support the troops during a show? Again, some people will be okay with it, some not. How is that so different?

Sometimes what makes an artist great is precisely that they refuse to fulfill the expectations of the audience. If their primary goal is to fulfill expectations, at best they are mediocre artists.

While no man should be above the law, there are laws and then there are laws. Laws about prostitution are based on a subjective bullshit set of morals. As far as I know about this case, nobody died, nobody went to the hospital and no transactions took place that all parties didn't agree to. Spitzer has made a name for himself going after transactions that both parties agreed to, but affected other parties. The after close trading allowed by mutual fund companies to hedge funds is definitely the more prominent. Microsoft monopoly abuse is another. Illegal prostitution definitely has losers, including the sex slaves and the taxpayers. If it's not legal in NY, the former AD should not be engaging in it. Don't forget to add that just last year His Reverence Spitzer elevated the severity for punishing simple solicitation from a class B to a class A misdemeanor. So anyone who makes the claim that "laws about prostitution are based on a subjective bullshit set of morals" should be clear that Spitzer himself was of a distinctly different opinion, at least publicly. All of which puts him in a significantly higher level of hypocrisy than Clinton or even some of the holier-than-thou Republicans. He's putting people in jail for doing the same exact thing he feels entitled to do himself. That's much worse than simply "talking the talk but not walking walk" hypocrisy.

Yeah, McCain has gone back on a number of his former "maverick" positions, including support of the Bush tax-cuts and his opposition to the same immigration bill he originally co-authored. If he's going to pull in any significant independent votes, he'd better show the world he's not just another conservo-clone.

The Democrats will introduce a new term into the lexicon, "tying ugly".

How about the "Double the national debt" president? That ties into his claim of being "Reaganesque".

That may be his secret weapon leading up to November. Offer an olive branch to the dems all summer...via ice cream. Get them too fat to want to go to the polls for the election. You could use this for a campaign poster.

That's the problem, isn't it? Probably a big reason why Hamas and Hezbollah feel entitled to continue firing those rockets and killing Israeli civilians.