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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (73611)	12/10/2006 11:28:26 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Comments from a Republican Senator... STEPHANOPOULOS: You said in that speech the current policy may be criminal. SENATOR SMITH: I said it — you can use any adjective you want, George, but I have long believed, in a military context, when you do the same thing over and over again without a clear strategy for victory at the expense of your young people in arms, that is dereliction, that is deeply immoral. crooksandliars.com

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (73611)	12/10/2006 11:47:07 PM
From: bentway	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Here you go Jim: habeas corpus allheadlinenews.com illegal detention, abuse of detainees and government secrecy iht.com extraordinary rendition guardian.co.uk Warrant-less wiretaps: sptimes.com

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (73611)	12/11/2006 10:06:16 AM
From: Knighty Tin	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 89467

Rolling back laws over a Presidential Veto and signing language is tough. Refusing to provide funds for the law's enforcers is much easier.

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (73611)	12/11/2006 6:51:54 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Is the Rocking Horse King Riding into the Sunset? ____________________________________________________________ by Beth Quinn Published on Monday, December 11, 2006 by the Times Herald-Record (Middletown, New York) The recent, testy exchange between our president and Virginia's Senator-elect Jim Webb raises an interesting question about Bush's state of mind. Either he doesn't care that the majority of Americans don't agree with him — or he doesn't know. I think it's the latter. Something's wrong. Bush is out of touch with reality. And I don't think he wants to be president anymore, either, because suddenly people are saying upsetting things to him. For those who don't recall the Webb-Bush conversation, which took place at a recent White House reception, Bush asked Webb, "How's your boy?" Webb's "boy" is a Marine serving in Iraq. Webb answered, "I'd like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President." Bush got snarly at that. "That's not what I asked you," he said. "How's your boy?" "That's between me and my boy," Webb said. Webb got the blame for this banter-gone-bad. Some even described him as rude. Rude? Since when is it rude to remind the man who has put your child in danger that it's time to bring the troops home from a pointless war? Rude? Well, perhaps it seemed rude to Bush because he's unaware that most of us think he's made a mess in Iraq. Maybe he thinks Webb is the rare exception. After all, he doesn't read newspapers. And he seems to think the mid-term election results were a joke, as though his frat house got beaten in a drinking match against another frat house, all in good fun. And he seems to think we still have a mission to "complete" in Iraq (as opposed to the one we already "accomplished"). This, despite last week's Iraq Study Group report, which was a stunning indictment of the president's war. It's not outside the realm of possibility that Bush hasn't even bothered to read it. And there is other evidence that he's really not all there. Consider: He recently named Dr. Erik Keroack — a vocal opponent of family planning — to the government post in charge of "family planning." What mission is he trying to accomplish here? Operation Virgin? He was actually stunned that Congress had no plans to reappoint John Bolton to the sensitive post of ambassador to the United Nations — an organization Bolton has contempt for. Bush, who personally opposes diplomacy himself, said Congress' failure to endorse Bolton "disrupts our diplomatic work." What's that? Operation Bull in a China Shop? *His White House lawyers are now arguing before the Supreme Court against taking steps to address global warming. His argument? That the danger is not imminent, so the government has no obligation to address it. Operation Change the Coastline? I don't know what's wrong with the guy, but none of this suggests he's connecting to reality. He reminds me of a character in a short story I once read about a CEO who never appears in public. An employee wants to meet him, so he sneaks into the house where he finds the CEO in a playroom, riding a rocking horse. The guy is entirely out of his mind but quite happy in his own simple way. At least in the story, the CEO had a benevolent, competent staff running the business for him. There are 771 days left until Jan. 20, 2009. Hang in there, America! © Copyright 2006 Times Herald-Record