The problem is not chiefly that Obama went to Copenhagen, although I think there is something to criticize as I said earler: he's spent more time talking to the IOC than to the man he tasked with winning with what Obama himself said is the good, righteous war.

The issue is that he made it all about himself, going so far as to tell the IOC that Chicago should get the games because he was now in charge of the country (in fact the people are in charge, at least in theory, but that's neither here nor there) and is not the bad old Bush and everyone can like America again and feel safe coming here.

Then his people blabbed that having the 2016 games in Chicago would be an excellent closing act for Obama's presumed (very presumed) second term as president. Again, it was all about him.

That's why so many are gloating. Obama made it all about himself and got a big fat goose egg. His charm campaign was a big splat.

Bush never did that, so the comparison is not apt.

My $ .02, at least.

A radio talker with humor of questionable taste (but hardly racist) is not good enough for the NFL, but a dog torturer (Michael Vick), probable accessory to murder (Ray Lewis) and dope users too numerous to name are just fine.

Curiouser and curiouser.

No, Limbaugh didn't say McNabb was a bad quarterback because he was black. He said McNabb was over-rated, but the press would not say so because they wanted a black quarterback to succeed.

here's the exact quote:

"He [McNabb] is overrated. What we have here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback can do well -- black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well."

That's not racist, sorry. It may be wrong (I wouldn't know), but it's not racist.

Assuming you are from London, perhaps you're unaware of how things work here in the States. (It took me a while to get used to it, too.)

The civilian cops were not from the town off the base. They are contract employees of the military base. The US military contracts out a lot of jobs these days, from cooking to maintenance to, yes, routine policing.

No one called the civilian police. She was on the scene so quickly because she and a colleage were outside the building directing traffic for another event taking place next door.

Military police are not used for such routine police work as traffic control. The outside SWAT team was called to provide extra firepower and capability that the contract police force did not have.

And the feds are involved, particularly the FBI. Don't know where you heard otherwise.

Here's our very own Guardian mentioning FBI investigators:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/08/fort-hood-massacre-internet-investigation

See also:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33678801/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts

No idea whether they're taking the lead, though.

And the contracting of service has nothing to do with "neo con" anything. It was actually begun under the Clinton administration in the early '90s as a cost-saving measure.

As far as I know, the shooting took place inside a processessing center. The sports field was next door, and a graduation event of some sort was going on there, hence the cops directing traffic.

I've seen diagrams here: lot of desks and tables close together, apparently, hence the gunman's ability to hit so many people--or so they say.

Even though I am widely traveled, my ass is broadening for altogether predictable reasons that have nothing to do with smart or dumb and everything to do with age and a sedentary lifestyle.