So I'm flicking back and forth trying to catch the Solis process and I'm watching the House and all the R's are clutching their pearls about how terrible the stimulus is and how a "majority" of Americans have had enough spending and blah, blah, blah, blah . . . some douche nozzle from Texas and one from Ohio and all of a sudden I spot one of my guys DeFazio approach the podium for his minute at the mike and he absolutely drops the hammer on em' (I'm paraphrasing):

"blah, blah blah tax cuts, blah blah blah tax cuts, blah blah blah tax cuts, blah blah blah tax cuts . . . that's my colleagues solution to every problem, you gain power with a surplus, tax cuts, you fight a war with tax cuts, you battle a depression with tax cuts . . . this is precisely why we are in this mess that you created and now we take any steps to begin cleaning it up and you yell tax cuts. Pathetic."

I got all misty and started applauding.

you're are clearly a woman who knows her own mind and I would never, and I mean never, attempt to bait you into anything. Especially given your predilection for saucy double entendres and racy euphemisms.

I just love a good Python reference because I'm a huge fan. And to be extra super precise they are the Knights who say "ecky ecky ecky buhkaang voit boiing goweeng eeey" . . . or something like that but it's very hard to replicate and now I'm the one who is way OT. My humble apologies to all UT posters. Please return your collective focus to calamine and bernbart as they seem to be very good sports about being mocked. Adnoto and granpyfile not so much.

actually one of my favorite things about the toobz (other than being exposed to more conflicting ideas in a shorter span of time than any other medium) is that people can really hurl the invective, snarl, taunt, posture, fight, insult, flame, and generally speaking (with some rare exceptions around here) you are as respected as your logic, facts, and arguments warrant.

And even if you get piled on one day there's always the next day to earn people's respect by hitting on something insightful and sparking a meaningful discussion. There usually aren't any real hard feelings or grudges (with notable exceptions). People will always read what is said and try to address it on the merits (mostly). That sort of brutal honesty without hurting feelings is something most real life human interaction lacks.

I read your link to calamine's post . . . I'd say more paranoid than racist though the two may be linked. I'm now starting to think calamine might be a little over/under medicated. Tough call. I'll leave it to you to decide whether he's the worst whatever. I'll agree he/she seems a tad off. But so is shooter, elephantman, zoltan, winsmith . . .

Weirdos, freaks, bigots, whathaveyou, are just flawed human beings like the rest of us, and around here they provide excellent comedic fodder and nice contrast to illustrate certain points and debunk others. They're like the necessary evil of positive change and good argumentation. They don't seem to be going away so might as well see somethingn productive in them.

bernbart is a she, and you're as stupid as she, and I hope you get banned right after.

And if you think anyone is afraid of being punched in the nose by someone like you for pointing out abject stupidity, you're more deluded than idiotic.

You're right that what's going on is in no meaningful sense a "war" because in no meaningful sense can war be waged against a tactic/practice.

The proper definition of OBL et als organization and its spin offs is a "criminal conspiracy". Whether global or not is subject to debate. Does the military have some role to play in combatting this particular criminal problem. Probably. But first and foremost it's an international criminal problem. Nothing more nothing less except that it is sophisticated and diffuse in terms of funding and organizational structure. Only way it will be disrupted is over time, by interdicting money and arms flows, infilltrating the organizational structure, and prosecuting alleged conspirators and criminal violators in appropriate courts of law affording them due process.

The military going around the world stomping on countries that harbor members of this conspiracy only exacerbates the problem. Engaging in rendition to black sites and torturing people only serves to prove the point that we are the imperialistic oppressors they claim us to be. American and its allies couldn't have tackled this problem in a more ham handed way. But I'm far from surprised. When you think the only effective tool you have in your belt is a hammer every problem looks like a nail. And that's no way to construct something functional.