Rex Kickass

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/11/politics...artner=homepage This is just sad. On top of that, Brownback - Kansas' lovely wackjob senator passed a constitutional amendment through a Senate committee banning gay marriage. When did America become about disenfranchisement?

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Nov 10, 2005 -> 10:04 AM) Ok, what about Serbia/Yugoslavia/Bosnia whatever it's called today? What about all those people? The scale is smaller, but it's the same thing, isn't it? 0 American lives were lost with our actions in Bosnia/Yugoslavia/Kosovo. American actions were taken under multinational auspices (UN/NATO) And life didn't degenerate into chaos and everyday bombings there since we got involved. So I don't see how this comparison is apt.

I've been silent on this... but more because of that election I was working on til last night and the hangover I've been nursing since this morning. Yes, Democrats were misinformed by intelligence reports that were wrong. However, to say that statements in 1998 - to a situation that was wholly different because of actual material changes on the ground - justify an invasion five years later is pretty irresponsible. In 1998, the UN was forced to pull out inspectors by the US because Saddam Hussein started fooling around with what they could and couldn't do. Clinton launched a serious bombing operation and wanted to go further but couldn't because he could not get the support of a Republican dominated Congress. Clinton tried to do the right thing, but he didn't try hard enough. In 2002, the Bush administration decided to war with Iraq. The evidence on the ground clearly seemed to show that there was little change in weapons capability between 1998 and 2002. In fact any change seen at all made it less likely that there was any kind of WMD capability.

Taking advantage of race rioting doesn't stop making it a race riot.

Actually, some constitutional scholars are saying that this WILL backlash against the "breeders" (loved that Cannonball song) because its so vaguely worded it could be outlawing regular marriage.

This is the beginning of the end of the Fifth Republic in France, I think.

The headscarf ban is endemic to a latent racism that has been present in the country for years.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Nov 6, 2005 -> 03:07 PM) I was also thinking some of Clinton's sexcapades as well. I was just thinking that I could go for some of that this time around. You know whats funny? Hypocrisy is hypocrisy. It's all over the place. So the Clintons reduced their estate tax burden after keeping the estate tax. Rush Limbaugh didn't exactly turn himself into the cops after admitting he was a drug addict. George Bush didn't maintain "honor and integrity" by refusing to fire the people responsible for a CIA leak. It happens all over. It just is.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Nov 7, 2005 -> 12:15 AM) So now you're comparing a bunch of thugs who are rioting and committing arson to peaceful civil rights protestors? Rosa Parks didn't torch the bus when they told her to move to the back. Martin Luther King didn't burn down schools in his own neighborhood. Sorry Tex there's no comparison here. Try again. There's a word that can be accurately used to describe people who destroy things indiscriminantely. That word is savages. Just to answer you. Most of these people that are rioting and are treated badly aren't "just off the boat." Some of these people have been there for decades - and they moved to France because they had no choice - economically, politically or otherwise. Some of these people have lived there their whole life and have been treated s***ty because of the color of their skin, or the religion they preach. This has been a tinderbox waiting to happen for decades. And it might bring down Chirac and possibly the Fifth Republic with it.

From what I've read, the gay marriage amendment is written so vaguely, it may actually be outlawing all marriage. I could vote for that. Equal rights for equal people.

Rumor is he'll be the next CBS or ABC Anchor.

Not so much a civil rights movement as a race riot. This has less to do with religion and more to do with geography. A lot of the people who live in the communities which are rioting are from Algeria and other French colonies. And they've been treated like crap for so long, its been a tinderbox waiting for years.

I'm not saying I'm on the side of rioters but... you try being anything but white in France and see how youre treated.

Gobble freakin gobble.

The Dems were promised in writing a second phase to Iraqi Intelligence investigation. They never got one. The Libby investigation/indictment gave them the smoking gun they needed to force the investigation. Now that enough is out in the open, Reid can force the GOP to do what they promised but never intended to do. Brilliant move.

Yeah its misfortunate when the press hacks off important bits of stories. Or makes them up. You know, whatever.

More importantly, this is the Dems taking the gloves off finally. They don't get access to the agenda and even committees that minority parties have traditionally gotten in the last few years. Good to see balls on the part of the Democratic party. Harry Reid is doing what ought to be done by the Senate - unfortunately, he has to drag the other side in kicking and screaming to do it. Because it will make them look bad.

OMG! Best thread ever!

Germany's 10% unemployment rate takes into account people that we would consider "no longer in the workplace," i.e. people not having been in a job for longer than six months.

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Oct 30, 2005 -> 11:45 PM) I wonder who will end up with the tougher sentence: Scooter Libby or Sandy Berger? Lie to cover your ass or those of your boss vs steal top secret documents and lie to cover your ass or those of your boss. Hmmmm. When all else fails, rationalize. Compare your guy's crime to the crimes of other folks. And get it right. Lie to cover your ass over the issue of exposing a CIA front company dealing with weapons of mass destruction tracking DURING wartime vs steal top secret documents and lie to cover your ass.

QUOTE(JHBowden @ Oct 30, 2005 -> 07:45 PM) There's a cost to raising wage floors, and that's more unemployment. This classic example is found in textbooks because, well, it is true. Those who have disagreed have stated that they don't like this proposition, but disliking an idea does not make it false. Intuitively this makes sense in the world; many small businesses for example can only afford to pay individuals so much. So in a sense the socialist position of raising wage floors not only generates more unemployment, it helps big business at the expense of growing smaller businesses. Why don't you show me some concrete evidence that a minimum wage hike cost any kind of significant unemployment data in the last 15 years?

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Oct 30, 2005 -> 04:47 PM) So you would rather a form of justice that allows monsters like John Wayne Gacy to still sit in his cell, painting his clown art, sending his perverse letters to the families of the victims. I am pretty convinced that he was guilty. And if you dont believe it, maybe you can figure out where the 28 bodies appeared in his crawl space. Or the victims rings, necklaces why they were up on his dresser like a trophycase. Some of these monsters are guilty, and some of them should be killed. What we should do is work better on the science of forensics to help guard against evidence issues, and work on the appeals process so attorneys do not have the ability to scratch this out for decades. And as for the detterent value, I am sure that Gacy is no longer a threat to anymore teenagers. If the life of a human being is sacred, there are no asterisks. And as for the deterrent value, I'm sure that Gacy wouldn't have been a threat to teenagers locked in a prison either.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Oct 30, 2005 -> 01:13 PM) Congrats Queeine! I got you guys a bread maker. I totally went in on that bread maker by the way.

There's a big difference between enabling and acting. Iran will not attack Israel in any serious, WMD manner in the near future. Calling Iran "crazy, capable of doing anything" is the same thing as calling the dude from North Korea "bats*** crazy." It's just undermining your enemy and letting them closer to being in a position to do the things you fear in the first place. The reality is that a nuclear Iran is more likely to use that bomb on Iraq rather than Israel - or worse yet, use that to increase its clout and influence in the middle east. It's also most likely being created as a defense mechanism against any possible US attack in the medium to long term. It's why North Korea got the bomb. Not because they plan on using it offensively - but rather to ensure that no offensive measures would be taken against it by a greater power (like the US, or China for example). Creating nuclear weaponry for a state enables it a seat at the barganing table whether or not it deserves one. It's part of the reason why nuclear proliferation doesn't seem to concern conservative political scientists like John Mearsheimer much. As long as a state's government remains stable and nuclear arsenal secure, the threat for a rogue strike remains low.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Oct 30, 2005 -> 02:44 PM) You can make jokes all you want to but the fact remains that people in those jobs get paid what they do for a reason. Its called supply and demand. There are far too much unskilled labor in this country to support high wages for them. But why let something like economic reality get in the way of a good emotional liberal cry-fest about the poor. It's not a joke, its about making sure that the average worker can make enough money to live. Even Wal-Mart favors an increase in the minimum wage. Maybe its because these workers are getting priced out of there.