SI1020

I'm not so hard to figure. I am run of the mill post Holocaust Lutheran where things like the Barmen Declaration, the Confessing Churchm and the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer are very informative. And that I tenaciously believe what I believe, or will sometimes not shy away from a position of advocacy, is not that hard to understand. What I do not ever expect uniformity of opinion on anything, I will insist on facts being right. And the initial post in this thread is ludicorus and unfactual. Responses to all of those those things were taken, as has been posted. One could make the same glib assertions about anything or anyone. It has no substance. Shall we blast away in the same way at G W Bush because he promised us bin laden "dead or alive" and has not delievered but has distracted the public by video wars on tv against two very weak nations? This one was slighltly tougher than Grenada to be sure, but not by much. It is spin bulls*** in my opinion to say that the American public does or does not rrust a certain party the way you describe. A Democratic candidate has won the popular vote 3 straight elections, the last time with the largest vote ever received by any candidate in US history. But yes, there are certain perceptions out there, right or wrong. And to call the Democratic policies a collassal failure is real bulls*** when you consider that is was 10 years of Reagan and Bush kissing Saddam's ass all through the 1980s and half of 1990. And I could go and list any number of total policy failures from their hands. The foreign policy of Reagan, Bush and Bush has led us to a sorry state. It was Bob Dole shaking hands with Saddam in 1990 and calling him someone we can work with, not the Democratic congressional leader. I could also discuss what I consider to be failures in Clinton's policy, or in Carter's. In reality I do not see the world in the simplistic way that one party is good and one bad, nor do I dwell in the shadow of the past. McGovern? A fighter pilot... and that election was over 30 years ago. Might as well tar the Republicans with Watergate if you are going to charge McGovernism. Or more aptly, Iran-Contra since many of the key players in that are currently employed in DC. I wish Clinton had had a freer hand. Much of what was not accomplished was because of Republican obstructionism in the Congress and their obsession with getting Clinton and their vitrolic responses to anything Clinton said or did. I am partisan though. There is one party that in the areas of congruence there is much more in common than with the other. Simple as that, while I see no party as perfect, of course not, I do advocate strongly within one party. And I am not decided on the next election. I lean towards Dean but am not in anyone's camp yet. When the current outrageous budget deficits balloon, we shall see who America trusts. I think this administration has been a diaster in every way, and contemptuous of anything bipartisan. And its economic polices are woefully ignorant and inept. As far as 9-11 goes - there was no f***ing need for racial profiling or for anything more sophisticated than following then-current polices - when a group of people buy one way tickets oin cash ayt the very last second, that is suspicious. The failure of Amerfican intelligence to give a warning in the weeks prior is well documented. So was Bush's neglect. So was Rice's. And even afterwards,. it was not Bush who supported greater airline security, he just finally when he saw the congressional votes were against him, latched onto the Liberman proposals. And this very day while America is looking elsewhere, 1/3 of the House Republicans went against the president on an airline bill. I find the recent republican congressional dissension from Bush on economoic matters interesting, by the way. I don't see you as nonpartisan other than on your card, unless you are hard right. Which is noit to say that I do not find you as interesting, better informed than most, and a good Sox fan. And you are more rartional than many. I haven't caught you in a disregard for facts, really, just mis-interpretations and maybe some day you will come back to the true fold. But never mistake being for peace with not being tenacious. It is not always easy to go against the contemporary flow. But then, if I were the give in easily type, I wouldn't be a Sox fan, would I? Oh well it's useless to debate I'm not going to even try, we're too far apart. It is nice to know that even if I'm not too bright at least I'm not too dumb. If we ever do meet then maybe we'll hash it out over a few beers. I have some liberal relatives who actually like me at least they act like they do. I'm not a leftist but if I'm on the right then I'm very quirky right. I once tried to get on Rush Limbaugh for about a week to debate him on a particular economic point. Needless to say I never got past the censors and ended up frustrated like this . I still say you're quite the warrior.

Time for Garland to have his"A" game on. If he could be consistent, be a decent 15-16 game winner this year I'd be a most happy guy.

Bill Clinton and Madeline Albright are heroes to the Kosovar Albanians. As the weeks and months go on the world will see the hatred for Saddam that the Kurds, Shi'a and many of his own Sunnis had for him. The hatred was stifled by an intense fear and paranoia. The Iraqis can have a peaceful and prosperous land if they are willing to grab the bull by the horns. I hope they do and although many liberals will choke don't be surprised if many Iraqis don't feel the same gratitude to Bush that there Albanian Muslim brethren feel for Clinton and Co.

Why does anybody here even give a rats fat ass what Apu thinks about what is going on today in Iraq ? Damn good question.

I liked him, I miss him but both he and the Sox needed a change of scene. He'll continue to do well I predict. I'm not unhappy to have Koch, things are OK now after that rough outing in the second game I believe.

Imagine what Beane could have done in Boston CWSOX45 imagine what he would do for us??? I think about that often.

that is a very false presumption of facts. To do so in this country would be unconstitutional unless a crime had been committed. The arrest of that dude in minnesota should have been a huge tip off but it wasn't followed up - however, all of the plotters of the first WTC bombing were arrested, prosecuted, and convicted very properly. The very point of the the anti-terror initiative that Rice and the Bush administration ignored was to take action against al queda. And under the Clinton administration moves were made against al queda. They have been discussed here before and I am not going to go over old ground for a cheap shot. If you think the only way to deal with anything is to wage war, well, that is your problem. You're a real hard guy to figure cw. Your politics are hard left, Dean seems to be your man for the Dems. We've never met in the formal sense but you are a fighter, a warrior. I'm not cyber spouting to pick a fight with you it's just my own personal observation. I admit I find it ironic, you're for peace but at the same time you're such a damn good fighter. We're almost the same age, but I left the left a long time ago and I'm never going back. My voters card says "non partisan" so my politics don't fit into any cliche or label. I do think the original poster was correct in chastising Clinton for his utter and complete failure to deal with this threat. The Democratic party has been a collosal failure repeatedly in the area of foreign policy. That's a major reason why the Democrats have had such a hard time electing presidents since 1968. The American electorate is not McGovernite when it comes to foreign policy and does not trust the Dems to handle these matters, particularly voters in the south, plains and mountain west states. On the other hand many voters are leery of the Republicans when it comes to certain economic and social issues. I laugh at references to the blowhard Sandy Berger. He was a big wallflower on the issue of terrorism until the end of the Clinton regime. Face it Clinton and company sat on this hoping it would go away. The airlines wanted to install a highly sophisticated computer program in the mid 90's that more than likely would have prevented the hijackers from boarding those planes. Critics called it "racial profiling" and 9/11 is the result. Clinton was a big time failure in this area and only the blind or the overly zealous refuse to see it. Are the Republicans beyond criticism on this matter. Hell no! We have spent too much money on too many despots in the past and Republican administrations have been an important part of this. When this war ends I will be looking to see how Bush and any future Republican administrations will adjust our foreign policy. This immediate threat demands a forceful military response, but our present and past foreign policy has helped lead us to this sorry state. I told you I was non partisan so I guess both the left and the right on this board will be unhappy with me.

Kip Wells had his second subpar outing in a row today. In the Pirates home opener he only lasted 4 innings and walked 7. He was only charged with one earned run but looked positively awful as the Pirates lost their home opener for the ninth time in ten years. Royce Clayton went 1 for 5 with an RBI but left 5 men on base and was caught stealing.

Konerko has always been a streaky hitter. If this isn't his year I like the fact we have Daubach, who should have all the incentive in the world to do good if he gets the chance.

You are oh so right unfortunately. Isn't it strange how JR seems to rub so many the wrong way?????? was it jr that rub people wrong in the basketball or is it jerry krause? I think in this case it was both.

You are oh so right unfortunately. Isn't it strange how JR seems to rub so many the wrong way??????

Of course, $75 billion for the initial part and then what about the millions that are going to have to be spent in order to keep that US friendly government propped up. A few years from now the GOP will be whining when taxes have to be raised to help pay for this bus*** war. I wonder if they are gonna try to blame it on Clinton too. Remember, Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris with the help of ChoicePoint eliminated thousands of legal voters from the rolls in Florida...George Bush lied to us about this war...but you conservatives have got to keep focused on Clinton's zipper. Because a blow job is so much worse than destroying democracy and killing multitudes of people in an illegal Iraq war. it is not an illegal war I've been doing a damn good job avoiding politics lately, but I'm not completely cured I guess. Most constitutional scholars seem to be of the opinion that this is not an illegal war. Regardless of whether you are for or against the war it does not appear to be illegal. A lot of folks have their nose out of joint because Congress did not formally declare war but it seems that most agree that Bush did not overstep his authority. Again, I'm not arguing policy here just backing up baggio in stating that this is not an illegal war.

A long time ago I warned that this guy had a real bad rep in SD. I was hoping a change of scene and an opportunity to start would work for DJ. I'm not as close to the action as most of you, so keep me posted on how it's going OK?

Cub fans are so predictable. After opening day they're making reservations for the post season. By June or before they'll be totally out of it. Breaks my heart.

Gotta give him a chance first though Baggs. While I'm usually in agreement with you baseball-wise, you picked a bad day to rip on Jimenez..... a solo HR and a HUGE 2 RBI double that would have probably been 3 RBI's if that jackoff wouldn't have interferred with a ball in play that added to a 3-2 White Sox lead. And as for Jimenez's range, with the exception a few great defensive plays you occasionally got out of Ray Durham (you'll get a few gems out of Jimenez too..... trust me), his range isn't what I would consider to be exceptional..... IMHO. Stewart was today's player of the game but consideration also has to be thrown over to Jimenez for two big offensive hits. not ripping on him...just saying its way too premature to say he is gonna be a better ballplayer than durham...lets not forget jimenez is no rookie anymore...over 773 lifetime at bats jimenez 264 average , 36d , 8t , 7hr, 8sb (6 cs) , 343 obp , 701ops...those numbers are well below durham's averages for his career...let alone his career year numbers i think jimenez , if he gets his head out of his ass defensively and with some timely hitting can contribute to the sox...my defense of durham might have sounded like i ripping on him...he can help this team..but he will; never , imo put up durham type numbers...durham had a hell of a 7 year run here Best 2Bman for our team since Foxie IMO. I'm not ripping on Jiminez BTW, I wish him the best.

It's gotta bite real bad if you're a die hard Tigers fan. I've been to the old Tigers (Briggs) stadium and Comerica and let me tell you the old time Tiger fan is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. I guess if you're a Detrioter you have to be thankful for the Red Wings, there ain't much else going on in the pros these days.

YES I REAMIN SILENT UNTIL I HAVE A LAWYER COPS ARE COCK SUCKERS, I PROTECT MY RIGHTS AND IM NOT ADMITTING TO ANYTHING. Your stupid ass might be more than a little surprised to find out how many "cock sucking" cops are posters on this board you stupid little asswipe. These boards can be extremely frustrating at times that's for sure. Maybe he should read a copy of James Wambaugh's The New Centurions. That little "thin blue line" is all that separates all of us from anarchy. Try studying the Montreal Police strike of 1969 or LA on or about 4-29-92. Better yet, get in a real tight spot and call 911 and get no response. I've never been a cop but have worked for a big municipal police dept as a civilian and have done a lot of investigative work for lawyers and insurance companies with moonlighting cops as partners. It's not the 40's and 50's, the job is tougher than ever and very few use the phone book or the night stick anymore. Most I've known are both street smart and book smart and have no desire to "oppress" anybody.

How's it goin guy. Nice to see you on the baseball side.

Although the Miranda ruling came down in 1966 it was not a completely done deal until fairly recently. A little known section of the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1968 passed by Congress stated that a confession or statement obtained voluntarily was admissable regardless of whether or not the defendant had waived Miranda rights. Almost all juridictions were following Miranda and countless confessions were thrown out because a defendant was not properly "Mirandized". However in February of 1999 the US Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit in a 2-1 decision upheld that section of the Omnibus Crime Control Act stating "voluntary" admissions were legal. Of course the case eventually went to the Supreme Court which ruled in late June of 2000 ( Dickerson V US) in a 7-2 decision reversing the Appeals court and affirming Miranda for all time. The Supreme Court verbally spanked Congress but good, stating in no uncertain terms that Congress had over stepped its bounds in attemting to overturn Miranda. The majority decision authored by Chief Justice William Rehnquist stated in part "In Miranda we note that the advent of modern police interrogation brought with it an increased concern about confessions obtained by coercion .... This court declines to overturn Miranda .... Miranda has become imbedded in routine police practice to the point where the warnings have become a part of our national culture."

I attended games in Comerica, never had a problem, but then I'm so obviously a great guy why hassle me?

I had trouble too. I finally got here when I typed in www.soxtalk.com.

I agree with every word you said in this post. Still, I think some people are about ready to go ballistic on us. We'll get straightened out. Today's game against the Kitties was a start. Yes it was. Our starting pitchers have been strong 3 out of the first 4. That's a good sign. Let's keep it going today.

I'm nobody official but let me say hi and welcome you. It is easy to get overly excited or depressed at the beginning of the year depending on if your team is 3-0 or 0-3.

Looks like you need a hip flask today. I prefer brandy. Stay warm HSC.

I'm old enough to remember 68. It was the end of the Go Go era and the end of 17 straight winning seasons which I believe is third longest in major league history. Things are looking good so far today. Man, how cold is it in Chicago?