Ok, so I forget some things-the actual memorandum of recommendation for sentencing is far larger than five pages (standard size, as a matter of fact), and it is boring reading unless you happen to like this kind of stuff. I don't, but it is pretty interesting reading.

He still did a good job, too!

To those who believe that this war is winnable, noble or just, I have just one question:

Are you prepared to sacrifice your own son, daughter, husband, wife, brother, or father to it?

If you are prepared to do that, then you can claim honor when they present you the American flag folded in an triangle and speak those words to give you comfort when you lose your loved one, in the cemetary with the military honor guard.

To sacrifice another person's life for the sake of "honor" without your own personal sacrifice is evil.

This war is driven by political men without conscience or scruples and should be ended as soon as possible. Anything less is dishonorable to those who have already made too many sacrifices.

Cary's advice was right on-the LW is the latest flavor of the day for the daughter, and the step-father is very sick, if not dying.

Why does the LW assume he needs to be validated by the man, anyway? Politeness is not exactly high on the list of "things to do" when you're going through a slow and lingering death.

The LW isn't owed anything-get a damned life, and stop expecting other people to kiss your ass. The man is possibly dying, seeing the end of his life, and you expect him to be happy about it?

What the LW doesn't understand is that the step father is probably anxious that if he does die, he won't be around to protect his step-daughter from jerks like this, and he doesn't want to see her hurt. I'd be a little rude under the circumstances.

LW, you are not the center of the universe, believe it or not.

I hate to be disagreeable, but I've known a few people who are that self-absorbed and selfish; they demand all the attention and the air in the room they inhabit.

They are prima donnas and emotional blackmailers. If the LW of the second letter is the same one who wrote to Cary, he is an idiot to assume the mantle of injured pride and hurt feelings when everyone on this thread takes him to task for his attitude towards a man he barely knows, and who is dying. He wanted attention by writing to Cary, and he got it.

If he is in his fifties as some think, he obviously never grew up emotionally, and wants to play the pity game.

If he is in his twenties, he is a young fool who should learn his manners, shut up and grow up.

Respect is earned, not demanded.

Maybe the last post has it right-at least one "guttersnipe" magazine keeps braying that they know he's not only on the sauce but that the old lady, Laura, has left him and is living in a hotel in Washington.

Now, in a parallel universe, perhaps that story is true-what isn't funny though, is that it seems that he's truly a frightening person without any sense of reality, and he seems to be cracking up.

I wouldn't want to wonder too hard about his hold on sanity. I already know about his intelligence.

I would bet a hundred bucks that this pharmacy is an independent one, or it would have been shut down by any corporate honcho.

In most states it is illegal for a pharmacy to deny a prescription for a drug unless there is a compelling legal, moral or religious reason that the pharmacist can give; that is the litmus test.

If the pharmacist has a religious or moral reason to deny the prescription, they may do so, but I wouldn't want to be that pharmacist up against the Board of Pharmacy in that state.

Sounds like these people are religious whack jobs who don't have a clue. They should be reported to the Board of Pharmacy in that state posthaste by Planned Parenthood. They can be denied the license to operate a pharmacy.

The average American is drowning in debt. The slide down the mountain has started: the housing industry tanking badly, the sub-prime credit companies going under, the construction industry laying off thousands...the list goes on and on..and the end is nowhere in sight.

When we come out of this morass nobody will be unaffected. Millions of people will be jobless, homeless and on welfare. This is going to far worse than the last few recessions, and almost equal to the Great Depression.

The American consumer is running on a tread mill tied to a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.

There is an end to everything good and bad.

Thank god I don't have even one credit card! Call me pre-historic, but easy money is easily lost.

Exactly what kind of message would a sentence of probation mean to the White House?

"We can do anything we want, we can get caught at it, and then we get to go home at the end of the day."

No. He committed a crime, he must pay for it with an applicable sentence. Going to prison is an message that everyone in Washington will get loud and clear.

Take heed, Mr. Rove, Mr. Cheney, Mr. Bush. The judge has the final say in this matter, and he doesn't always do as you might wish.

The gravity of the crime is always taken into consideration against the "good works and good character" of the defendant.