Well, here's some stuff that's different from Bush: We're pulling out of Iraq. Obama voted against invading Iraq. We're trying to close Guantanamo. We're making progress in closing the Medicare prescription gap. We've changed commanders in Afghanistan. We've opened up constructive dialogue with the rest of the world. We are now able to do scientific research that was stifled under Bush. We are moving forward on a number of environmental areas that were sidelined or ignored by Bush. Obama has enacted stricter fuel efficiency standards. A new Supreme Court justice has been nominated.

I'd say that is pretty good considering he's barely six months in office, and having to wade through eight years of his predecessors mismanagement.

FYI, Obama has written a total of 890 Bills and Co-sponsored another 1096 since he started serving in the U.S. Senate.

True, the economy is a huge issue right now but it is like trying to steer the Titanic around the iceberg. Years of Reaganomics and the lack of oversight by both political parties and the lack of oversight and regulation have wrought such a systemic mess that I don't think six months in office is quite enough to fix all of that.

"Collectivism and redistribution" works all over the world and it works very well unless it is taken to the extreme.

We use it here in the good 'ol USA. Social Security and the insurance industry is based on it. Public education exists because of it. Highways and bridges depend on it.

The list goes on ....

Things can go off the rails, however, when unbridled capitalism is allowed to overgrow regulation. We've learned that lesson, at least for now.

as a never-ending erection.

"Listening to warmongering righties did that. You have been soooo wrong, about soooo many things, for sooooo long, I just can't believe anyone STILL listens to you."

The last Election is proving your point and recent GOP failures are driving that point even deeper.

What will emerge from this healthcare debate is a choice. A choice between living in a society that values money over people, or living in a society that recognizes health care as a right for everyone.

If America is all about money and the denial of health benefits in order to further the performance of the stock market, the American dream will become the American nightmare. We can stop the promises of "opportunity" and "equality" and accept the Republican argument that is paid for by those industries that are driving up health care costs and denying coverage to many with preexisting medical conditions. Do we want that kind of care for ourselves?

The choice is that simple.

to rise up against their government. What are a few thousand lives if it makes the GOP happy.

George Bush Sr. encouraged the Iraqis to revolt against Saddam and guess what happened? The revolt was shattered by Saddam and it turns out that the protestors thought the USA was going to back them up.

Let's hope that the Iranians don't listen to our Republicans - many of the same Republicans that have never served in the American armed forces.

The Republicans' resistance to scientific knowledge is a typical example of the lunacy that drives people to plunder natural resources into extinction in the quest for quick profits.

At some point a "tipping point" will be reached and any effort to recover the planet from human abuse will be useless. Then, Republicans will flock to church and demand that God put the planet right again.

This is the "science" that Republicans favor.

when it renders decisions "along party lines".

Ideology trumps justice?

so why is anything he does of importance?

Move on, folks. There is nothing to see (or read) here.

We can't build decent cars, cameras, receivers, TV sets. Or stores' shelves are stocked with foreign made goods that are equal to or superior to stuff produced here. We can't seem to run an effective national mass-transit system or maintain our roads and bridges. Our banking system is in shambles.

Our present health care system is just as broken as General Motors and Chrysler, yet we have all this Republican complaining about "government run healthcare" while the Medicare system continues to provide effective and affordable medical coverage for millions of seniors.

Nobody should complain that effective healthcare will "cost too much" while we spend a trillion of dollars on an unecessary war in Iraq and we continue to maintain armed forces in Europe and Korea.

Were tax dollars used to fund trips to Argentina? Were tax dollars used to purchase condoms, meals, or local hotel rooms used for illicit purposes? What about long-distance telephone calls? More tax dollars spent?

Unless the governor had other income besides his state-paid salary, the answer to those questions must be "yes". And here, folks, is where Republicans get really angry. Republicans can look the other way when other Republicans cheat on their marriage, start a useless war, pollute the environment, but God help the Republican that does anything to encourage higher taxation.

And that is precisely what is going to happen in South Carolina when the governor's legal bills come due.

Republicans, meaning the religious conservative ones, are closer to God and this is apparent due to their quoting stories told and handed down through generations telling us what God did and why He did it.

Of course, none of these present-day folks have first-hand experience hearing what God is saying but repeating ancient, unfounded stories is apparently good enough. God help us if these folks serve on juries.

When a Republican breaks a moral law, other Republicans immediately search out similar transgressions done by Democrats, and this provides a great deal of comfort for the Republicans.

Because, the Republicans' moral code concerns itself more with what the other person is doing.