jdhill

Danforth or Armitage are other names being tossed around, both of whom I think would be better choices... I think Armitage may be a little too close to Powell's thinking for Bush... we'll see what happens, I doubt there will be anyone named immediately. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Oil is their only export, is the only thing that gives them status on the world stage (except terrorism and islamic extremism)... why use it when people will buy it from you at $50/barrel... or maybe they are just thinking green... or maybe they are trying to build a bomb... Their suspension is a good thing, if it is real... the only way the world is going to know that is to have some sort of verification on an ongoing basis (since there is no reason to take them at their word). J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

All the talk abour CR becoming SoS or SoD is driving me crazy... She is smart, sure, but I don't see where she has the experiance to run either of those bureaucracies, either from a managerial perspective, or from the actual meat of the job. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Maybe they remember Israel's bombing of Iraq's reactor back in '81. Or they may be trying to hide something... J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

You're looking for something that's not there... The 1st sentance says he thinks IRAN will be found in violation and on its way to building a bomb... The second sentance seems to indicate that taking Iran's leadership at its word, that they will suspend their enrichment program, is following the path of believing other power hungry nut jobs... Nothing there about IRAQ having nukes, or even a nuke program... There is plenty of evidence that there was no reason to trust SH in his abandonment of banned weapons programs... a case in point were the long range missiles that he claimed he did not have, but were found, and only destroyed in the face of invasion... J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

I think appeals are automatic if he is sentenced to death... all the jury antics will surely bring an appeal, and several of the talking heads say there were other questionable decisions made by the judge that could be grounds... J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Do you mean is he guilty, or will he be found guilty? I think he did it, but from what has come out of the trial (which I know is not all the evidence) I don't think the government proved it. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

I think its fine for commercial vehicles and public transportation, maybe even rental cars... but privately owned and operated vehicles it should be optional... I would not willing have one, and would most likely look for a way to remove or disable it if I bought a car that had one. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Not sure about widescreen, but it is supposed to be commercial free and unedited. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Consvatives like war (movies), so why would they complain, right? I don't disagree that the FCC has a double standard, and tend to overreact to the vocal minority that complain... they should have a system that seeks to gauge the whole community, not just those that complain... maybe hearings in the community in question before fines are levied... or the number of complaints much reach a certain % of the market in question... J J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

What was the community standards thing someone mentioned? The difference I was refering to was that the nature of the movie in known, and by tuning it in you know what you are going to get graphic depictions of war at its worse, to include the bad language soldiers use when they are getting shot at... When one tunes in the Superbowl one expects to see a football game and a bad halftime show, but not Janet Jackson's ugly tit to pop out in the middle of it... I could care less about the tit thing, but I didn't have any young kids sitting in front of the TV watching the superbowl. If CBS had said "there will be partial nudity during the halftime show" there would be no reason for anyone to complain, people would have had the opportunity to change the channel, or send the kids to the other room... J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Janet Jackson's tit and Saving Private Ryan are two totaly different things... If these TV stations can't see that, maybe they should find another business to get into... I don't think the public will complain, they know what's coming, and have the option to change the channel... One could not say that about JJ's flashing. The FCC should be able to see the difference too... I didn't follow the JJ fine story very closely... if it was determined that it was an accident, then the fine was excessive... if it was determined to be planned, then maybe not... Many more stations will be showing than will not be... to bad for those markets that will not be... J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Bill, you emphasize the NO LAW part, yet do not emphasize the RESPECTING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION part, which is the operative portion of the "Establishment Clause"... it mean that the government does not recognize religion period... To not treat a religious group like any other is recognition... you said before that taxation is not natural, I disagree... it is a natural part of any government... by telling a church that it does not have to pay real estate taxes it deprives local governments of needed revenues, reduces the tax base, and gives them (the church) a free ride... The Supreme Court has interpreted what the Establishment Clause means, which I cited in a previous post... it does not mean that the government can't pass laws that affect religious groups, only that they do not affect religious groups any more or any less than any other group... In reality, our laws are filled with laws that respect the establishment of religion... An example would be the respect shown to holy sites during combat... their status is codified in military regulations (which are laws)... Another example would be Chapels on military bases that are constructed and maintained by tax dollars, of Chaplains in the military who are paid by our tax dollars... Another example would be the confidentiality of the confessional... and a priest not being able to be compelled to testify... if we did not have laws respecting the establishment of religion would would not recognize the individual's status as a priest, or that there is such a thing as confession... J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

To me that says the government will not establish a religion, or recognize a religion, or prevent the people from worshiping as they please... I don't see anything about taxation... Bill, you are missing my point... Our government does not recognize, officially, any religon... therfore when it levies taxes it cannot exclude this group that has no legal standing whatsoever... Further, as a non-entity, religious groups should have no perferental treatment when itr comes to property ownership, i.e. not having to pay property taxes as all other property owners do. The SCOTUS has danced around, but never really ruled on the taxation issue, except that no tax may support religious activities or institutions... not visa versa... J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

It means the government cannot supress or promote... taxation is not supression, and the granting of exemptions (because they have to be granted) could be seen as promotion... A group has to apply for tax exempt status, the application has to be reviewed. To turn one down, that is based on being a religion, would be supression. To approve one is giving the group recognition as a religion. The tax code is a LAW... The Constitution allows for taxation, not taxation of everyone except religions, because there is no way for the government to identify one. To single a group out, either for taxation, or exemption thereof, is to recognize it... J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

By deciding who qualifies for an exemption, and who does not the government recognizing them... religion is not taxed, income and property are... the Constitution does not prohibit taxation of religious groups, it prohibits recognizing them, which in turn prohibits excluding them from taxation. By treating religious groups differently from any other business or property owner the government is recognizing it... when it denies tax exempt status to a a group calling itself a religion, it is giving status to ones that have had exemptions allowed. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

By not taxing them, their income, their real estate, etc... you are de facto recognizing them... if the tax code were silent then they would have to pay taxes just like any other land owner, or income generator. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Given that premise, there should be no tax exempt status for religious groups, and no tax deductions for contributions to faith based groups... J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Why should the taxpayers fund education at all? It is not a power given to the federal government by the Constitution... I'm sure I will hear the "and to provide for the common good" line, but if that is going to be an argument for funding of public schools, it could be used as one for funding private schools as well. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Pure BS... We (the US or anyone else in the Coalition) are in no way trying to convert anyone to any religion. The "holy war" is being waged by muslim extremists. There are both in Iraq, insurgents fighting against the coalition and interm government, and foreign terrorist, that are fighting against the coalition and interm government... Is there anything wrong with the insurgents? Well I think they should work towards rebuilding instead of destroying their country, but fundimentally, no... they are fighting for what they think is best for them... but there is not anything wrong with their government working to put them down, and nothing wrong with the coalition assisting in that. Is there anything wrong with the terrorists? Yes, and they should be cut out like any other cancer. I would expect any country to defend itself, which would include not provoking invasion... I doubt we will invade Iran... the war in Iraq is a continuation of the 91 war. Saddam never upheld his obligations of the cease fire, and there has not been any sustained period since '91 without hosilities between the US and Iraq. Saying the Iraq was not a threat to US interests is not seeing the forest for the trees. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Wow... If that is actually why he killed himself, you have found something more pathetic than the people who want the "blue states" to succeed or want leave the country because of Bush's victory. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Just to clairify... the guy in question has been off AD for 13 years, and out of the Reserves for 8, after 2 AD and 6 Res... So he had met his commitment... Now, if he took no active step to get out of the IRR, he's still in... and can still be recalled... if he did take active steps to get out off the IRR, they have no claim to him... the article was not clear on if he actually got out of the IRR... J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Welcome to the Bazarro World's version of the Clinton Years! You say religion is being forced down your thoat... How exactly? Are you being pulled from your bed to go to church or Sunday school? Are Blue laws coming back? NO. Is it the gay marriage thing? A Constitutional Amendment has little if any chance of passing 2/3rds of the House, 2/3rds of the Senate, and 3/4ths of State legislatures. Is it abortion? There are a lot of people, from different religions, who think it is murder. There are some people who think its OK to perform medical procedures on minors without notifying the parents, or partially deliver a baby, that could otherwise survive outside the whom, and scramble its brain or break its airway... Others feel this is not healthy for our society... its not religion, its morals that should transcend any organized religion... Is it providing funding to faith based charitable organizations? Organizations that are not from any one religion, but many... Organizations that do not deliver their services based on religion... Organizations who are in the community, and can deliver services more efficiently than the federal government... Religion is being forced down throat, huh? I don't go to church with any great frequency, and am generally appalled by most of the organized religions... I don't feel like its being forced down my throat at all. It takes two sides to have a split... there are differences, sure. Many of them began with Clinton's little Oval Office romp... But if the Dems are going to sit in the corner and pout in stead of trying to come up with some sort of agenda to work for, then they deserve to get run over for the next several years. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

No, I'm not suggesting that all 59 million are religiously motivated voters. Are you suggesting that all 59 million are controled by the religiously motivated, or that there is a vast religious consiracy to keep Dems down? J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

I was responding to CBS's comment: Which seems to suggest that the 51% that made up Bush's victory was somehow a religious minority... J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke