This guy has been an embarassment to Montana for three terms too long. He once refered to Arab people as "ragheads" on the Senate floor. Not that it would be any justification, but keep in mind that this was long before 9/11.

Conrad's come a long way from reading the agricultural report on AM radio, but I have a feeling that Montanans are not going to overlook his recent shadiness come next November. Going on swanky golf vacations to Scotland with high-powered DC lobbyists and receiving dirty money will not play well with the rural farm and ranch communities that have been Conrad's enthusiastic base for the past 17 years.

One amusing aspect of this story has been the Montanan Republican Party's (unsuccessful)attempt to spin this into a story about Max Baucus. See...

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?ts=1&display=rednews/2005/12/22/build/state/25-baucus-probe.inc

It will be interesting to see how the Democratic primary plays out. Brian Morrison is popular, but Jon Tester is from Big Sandy, home of Montana's only rock star, Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam. Ament organized a benefit concern for Tester last fall in Missoula. It remains to be seen whether the young voters Ament was trying to recruit at that concern will turn out for the summer primaries.

Obviously, the entire four billion dollars would not used for background checks. As is stated in the article, the new provisions of VAWA would require the match-making agency to do background checks on potential husbands. It does not appear that this new law would require any significant governmental funding. The match-making agencies realize a profit from each "match." Doesn't it make sense to have them check out potential husbands to ensure the safety of the women coming from another country? It seems to me that this should actually limit the strain on taxpayers by hopefully screening out the abusers and thereby reducing the number of women who will need to go to the police and the courts to obtain protection.

The four billion dollars that will be spent under the VAWA will go largely towards providing grants to local shelters, agencies, police departments, and family courts. One new program that has been developed by the Office on Violence Against Women gives grants to battered spouses to seek transitional housing.

Finally, I question A Single Man's characterization of men who utilize mail-order brides as "vulnerable." While these men may be lonely and indeed "have few other options," buying a wife off of the internet does not seem to be a particularly vulnerable act. If these men wish to protect themselves from the mercenaries from afar, I would suggest unplugging the computer and trying to meet some local women.

I saw this reported on the main news ticker on cnn.com and wondered why on earth this is a major news story.

That being said, I love, love, love the Willow reference. Ah, Buffy, I miss ya.

I've long had a theory that the real George W. Bush is not at all similar to the genial ignoramus he presents to his constituents. Both liberals and conservatives have bought into Bush's presentation of himself as a guy who doesn't read and who is not interested in the intellectual or academic aspects of arguments. This act plays so well to all the Americans out there who also dislike reading and would prefer to rely on their pastor's interpretation of the Bible for their political guidance.

I think the man is lazy, arrogant, spoiled, corrupt and quite possibly evil, but I don't think he is as dumb as he would have us believe. His poor record before becoming governor of Texas is attributable to an overwhelming sense of entitlement stemming from his family connections. And, he was quite right to rely upon this family connections providing him with the opportunity to seize the power he has now without ever relying deserving it. Now that he has been "elected" to the position of President twice, he must feel an even bigger sense of entitlement. So, I guess it's no surprise that he wants to be King.

"The ONLY way education, success and money are problems for women is

that they make the available men seem less appealing. The confusion arises because education success and money don't make an unnatractive women attractive, like they do with men. Because all men are unnatractive to women without these things."

I realize that this is all highly anecdotal evidence, but the above-quoted statements certainly do not reflect my experiences with men as a 20-something woman who graduated from an Ivy League school and then attended law school in my home state.

If all men are unattractive to women without education, sucess and money, then can you please explain why I spent 2 years with a high school dropout who worked for minimum wage at a pizza place? At the time, I thought it was because he was hot, but I must have been wrong. Throughout our relationship, he continually maintained that I was "plain" (in retrospect, i realize that he was quite the treat of a boyfriend) but that he found my education and ambition sexy.

So, based on my story, you're wrong in two ways...

1. Education can make an unattractive woman more attractive AND

2. Women, even educated ones, think hot guys are hot without regard to their education or money. The poster who cited woman who date musicians (btw, my pizza boy played the guitar) hit the nail on the head with that one.