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My point is that the Legislature is still somewhat controlled by the people, not whether it is right or not. I have to agree that they don't have any business doing this, but the fact that they are means they are listening to the people, at least the majority. As for the issue of the majority squashing the rights of the minority, well, that IS one of the problems of democracy. Just goes to show that our form of government is not perfect. I do think they are doing this to win elections, but hey, thats how we control them. They either do what we want, or they get booted out of office. Unfourtunantly, what the majority of letter writers seem to want is for Congress to overstep it's authority. Congress is caught between Rule of the People and Rule of Law, and it seems to have chosen Rule of the People. At least, I HOPE that's the case.

Time to move on. There has been a bit of talk about Steriod use by Athletes.
I'm not sure where I stand on this issue. On the one hand, theres the issue of freedom to do as you wish with your own body. On the other hand, there's the issue of having unfair advantage, and the fact that Steriods are dangerous. And another thing. If Steriods were taken off of the Banned list, then the ones that spent the most money on them would be the best perormers, so the ones that are truley dedicated to the game and worked out would be at a disadvantage. In short, Steriod users could end the careers of non-steriod players. What do you people think on this issue?

No, what screwed us in Vietnam was that the millitary was trying to fight WWII agaisnt guerilla tactics, and that just plain doesn't work.



What problem? Terrorism the red herring?



It's generally considered a bad idea to treat foreign powers like they aren't there, and you can be damn sure that we wouldn't be able to muster enough warm bodies for that without a draft. Our forces are already stretched out and suffering forced renlistment.



So we MEANT to kill all those civilians we hit with them?



"Insurgent" means "Rebel". They're civilians, and can be identified only when they get caught red-handed.

What you are proposing, then, is a policy of full-blown genocide.



Ironicly, it was the US flexing it's muscle and not playing nice that caused the problems that we're allegedly trying to fix.



Saddam was installed after we promoted a coup against the democratic government of Iraq out of fear that they might side with the USSR. He was loyal until Bush Sr stabbed him in the back by hinting he should invade Kuwait to keep them from causing an economic collapse in Iraq by underselling on oil.

Osama bin Laden was trained for and funded to conduct terrorist acts against the USSR.

Sure, Israel is a HUGE part of it, but if we weren't funding them to the tune of the combined GNP of half the middle east per day then they wouldn't be blaming us so much, would they? stare

Does a Nazi uniform at a costume ball make you a racist? Hmmm. Think about the old TV show of Hogans Hero's. The guy who played Col. Klink was a jew and had relatives who died in the camps. Was he a racist? How many times you seen movies with men in nazi regalia. I am not trying to be an arse, but I really think people are just too sensitive. Suppose Harry dressed as El Cid or a Vlad the Impaler. I do not think it would imply he hates Moors or Turks.

I guess it boils down to context. If Harry had gone to a holocaust memorial dressed in that manner, then fine, he is an idiot. If he had been seen at a neo-nazi rally, then fine, he is a racist. But a costume party is just a party with a bunch of people dressed up like whatever. Seems to me that this is just more symbolism over substance and the people who make thier living getting their panties in a wad went looking to justify their jobs.

You know, those weren't exactly the days of digital links to the battlefield with live broadcasts. Communications sucked in general, and attempting to get facts out of the jungle was somewhere between futile and daunting.

There's also the fact that there WAS a lot of ******** s**t going down over there - even if the media reported that one battle accurately, that still doesn't change the number of americans who got shipped home freight. While the media is many things, a mass-murderer is not one of them.

People are bad at math. Very bad.
They're told soembody died, it's a tragedy. They're told it's a hundred, it's not much more of a shock. Show them the flag-draped coffins and they'll treat the two vastly differently.



Terrorism is far less of a problem than most things. Such as pork spending, social security, and welfare. People just seem to like problems where you can apply bullets more, I guess.



So you're saying that you think bombing other nations isn't going to have the same result as a land assault?



GPS isn't much better than deadfire. Yes, you're more likely to hit the target, but the target is whatever the systems are set for, not whatever you want to have destroyed.



Or kill our troops to make them leave. You must really like being hated, I guess. Well, that or you have no patience and planning skills.



Yes, you can use the magic anti-americanism detector to tell the otherwise identicle armed civilian apart from the armed insurgent.

...

That was sarcasm, just in case you don't realize it.



The only thing your proposed methods could finish is the world. They wouldn't solve anything.

Do you ever think about what the consequences of an action would be? Are you completely incapable of judging basic human responses?



So you're a jealous p***k if you want your home back after it's forcibly siezed from you? Great, I expect the deed to your house delivered to me by the end of the week - by the way, you're evicted effective immediately.




There's a large difference between looking strong and looking like a strong bully, and it's hard to NOT look like a bully when you go around beating on other nations.

You can't beat covert guerilla tactics with brute force, and trying it just makes it worse - delecate surgery should not be conducted with a broadsword.

By the way, you lose points for failure to at least try to use the quote system properly.

Um, I don't quite know about whats going on, so my facts may be a little inaccurate, but from what I read in the Tampa Tribune, Senator Jim Davis is retiring sometime this June. The Democrats are having a frenzy, the Repubicans are promising a canidate, and the Libertarians? Nothing. Not a peep that I've heard, anyway. I THINK Jim Davis is from Florida, and according to the LP Canidates list, No Libertarians from Florida are running in 2005. Are we planning to enter this? I want to vote for the Libertarian Canidate, and I don't see one. gonk Whats going on here?

I understand what you're saying, it's simply absurd.



You assumed that ONLY insurgents have guns, when in truth Civilians are far better armed over there than they are over here.

Telling one armed person dressed like a civilian from another armed person dressed like a civilian based entirely on some abstract quality is not possible, and therefore requires magic.

You know, you'd make a good liberal - you have very effective suggestion for gun control.



I'm not trolling, I'm raising valid arguments with sarcasm inversely proportional to the amount of logic apparently exhibited by each point to which I am responding.

Personally, I'd say anybody who suggests door-to-door executions is a troll.