We didn't "leave the Taliban" there. We created them there to fight the (other) Evil Empire. Then we abandoned them there. And thus our 'good' comes back to haunt us.

But that is irrelevant.

What should we do now? Absolutely, we must fight the good GWOT. We must grow the military industrial complex. We must hire mercenaries. We must torture. We must abridge freedoms at home.

We must feed the monster .... Otherwise the terrorists have won. Right?

-------------------

Sideboard Question:

Do you conflate the Taliban with al Qaida?

my suggestion was to:

a) suspend the healthcare plan Congress enjoys unless and until they fixed healthcare

and/or

b) Congress extends, to everyone in the US, the same healthcare plan Congress enjoys (for $1/yr). We could pay for it by withdrawing from the Persian Gulf, firing Blackwater, and/or levying a lobbying surtax.

BTW, I see the trolls are really out in force these days. The insurance bureauocracy must have plenty of time on their hands to post their bullshit nonsense here.

"If this investigation ends with a conclusion that there's reason to proceed, then there'll be a fuller investigation and that will lead to the actual decision on whether or not to prosecute."

What, exactly, leads you to believe there will be anything beyond a few token scapedgoatings? Please provide any evidence there will be a full(er) investigation.

To the author: perhaps you should start using phrases such as "the Justice department states...", "an unnamed White House source claims...", "the GOP issued a statement condemning..." etc preceding any declarative statement.

For example, "An off-the-record source in The White House today suggested that IF this investigation ends with a conclusion that there's reason to proceed, then MAYBE there'll be a fuller investigation and that MIGHT POSSIBLY (in an alternate reality) lead to the actual decision on whether or not to prosecute."

"We can win if we simply wipe conservatives off the map. We'd thus stop the source of their weapons."

There, fixed it for you.

"... [the author] he also fails to realize that even an imperfect system is better than none at all."

This is demonstrably false. "No system" to destroy The Constitution is a superior choice to a "flawed system" to destroy The Constitution.

This classic overreaction to 9-11 demonstrates a number of failures with our system, some of them being:

- the travesty of justice that was the Bush administration

- the natural tendency for a few bastards to profit at the public trough at the publics expense

- the abject failure of our educational system to provide a reasonable foundation of civics

- that Americans, such as yourself Andy F, are whiny cowards that have deserve slavery instead of the freedom so preciously earned by our forefathers.

In short, fuck off.

IF there is any factual basis to her "USA=#1" line, I'm sure it is justified by some egregious manipulation of data. She's certainly avoiding some data, e.g. US Infant mortality rates are at third world levels.

Maybe their data set only includes people that live?

I'm wondering if you have seen, and agree or disagree with, a documentary floating around the cable channels, "American Drug War: The Last White Hope".

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1033467/

One premise is that the invasion of Afganistan was at least partly motivated by, and timed to facilitate, poppy production.

In other news, Saddam was always in our pocket, there was no need to bribe him or invade the country, beyond BushCo's political reasons (appeasing the Saudis, marking off the Persian Gulf as our territory like dogs pissing on trees, and drowning the country in debt). Obama showed his true colors when he flip-flopped on FISA, and the the fix was in when he quietly met with Big Money donors in the Summer(?) of '08.

Not to pile on here, but, perhaps you haven't thoroughly considered this. Should the passer-by pull the baby from a burning building or wait for the firemen to (maybe) arrive in time? Should the passer-by help the stranded motorist, or let them wait for the tow truck, and possibly in the process, allow them to freeze/starve/die from heat exhaustion?

Should I throw you a line if you're drowning, or wait for a lifeguard, who might be in the vicinity?

Scalia's comment is Orwellian in the extreme - a Justice not interested in justice. Not surprising considering what a douchebag he is.

What's next, Firemen that burn books?

... or more likely, a mass grave of skeletons.

What in the world would compel a sitting Parasite(R) to resign? Palin aside, the thugs hold onto the public teat longer and stronger than superglue.

Yop, doom strate, what cars about gud com skilz

English is the poster's language of choice. It should be exercised correctly. Errors reflect poorly on the user and the host. If they can't get the grammar right, what else are they missing?

While I'm sure there are ignorants that actually believe the right-wing portrayals of Obama, I'm convinced that there are plenty that are simply driving the public dialog in a direction they perceive as favorable to them. Call Obama a commie, fascist, socialist, vegan or whatever, simply go get him to act more conservatively.

Shrub appeared to be stupid, but he got everything he wanted. Is getting everything you want "stupid"?