That's why he's saying what he's saying. It's not rocket science! In politics, you score points however you can get them when you're at the back of the pack. So if that means subtly (or not so subtly) targetting your own party's candidates, then so be it.

While I absolutely believe that elected officials need more distance from the K Street Crew, the reality is that lobbying is a hard reality that politicians, and especially presidential candidates, must deal with. Simply wishing them away will not work. Edwards' campaign needs cash in a big way, and populist appeals aren't going to cut it here.

...namely, that these are 16-year-olds, and that they're not automatons? LW might think they're programmed to the gills, but they have their whole lives in front of them. Odds are, they're making a mistake. Most 16-year-olds can't commit to a pair of shoes for more than a few weeks, let alone a *spouse*. To say they're too green is taking the botanical metaphor too far; they're not even buds yet. They're not in bloom, there are no leaves, these are just metaphorical shoots.

And for all Cary's everything-is-subjective advice, my own would be to go to the wedding, but for different reasons. Go because it's a good idea to. Go because this particular situation is likely to implode later on, and these kids will most assuredly NOT be able to go to the girl's parents for guidance or support. They'll get judgement in spades, but if LW's characterization is accurate, they won't get a lot of help.

Think of the pitfalls they have in front of them! They've (possibly) never been intimate with each other, and that's a huge set of hurdles. They've never lived with anyone but their own families. They've never had to accomodate to another's wishes. They've never had to juggle career against family, they've never had to explore their own individuality. All that's going to be happening now, within the context of a marriage.

And they'll be doing it AT THE SAME TIME.

Talk about a pressure cooker! Can it work? Sure, there's that possibility. Will it? It's not likely, no matter what the "oh, that's just like Doreen and I, back in 1942" people say. I mean, really. The world is not the same, and there's no going back now.

As I read the blogs there is not one among you that could or would hold a candle to the intelligence of President, George W Bush. When I see radical, far radical left wing radicals that appear in these blogs and I see radicals interrupting hearings in Capitol, I can't help but think how sick the left really is. The trash they conjure up to tear up people's reputations, The methods they go about it, the language they all use reminds me of the younger generation, many still in college who have been propagandized by the left wing college professors that we find in most all of our colleges across the US. Cindy Sheehan was one thrown out of the hearings the other day, she is one sicko, sicko and of course just one example. Understand moveon.org had a full page nasty ad against Major Petraeus, of course paid for by that poor boy, George Soros. Oh yes, how sorry I feel for all those poor democrats. I have heard this sad song for the past 70 plus years. It would be great if the people of this great nation would wake up and vote Republican in repudiation of this radical left wing hate group amongst us.

Wow. So a woman who lost her son in a meaningless war is a sicko for questioning the motives behind that war? And George Soros is a sicko for questioning the legitimacy of the testimony of a man who many feel is not going to be objective in his reporting of the status of this war and its "benchmarks" (benchmarks that a great many people in the administration are suddenly shifting away from as quickly as they can)?

That doesn't seem sick to me. Your broad and blatant labelling of anyone who disagrees with this administration as part of a "radical left wing hate group", on the other hand...

To the humorless people who don't see anything funny about "only 3 ounces of bodily fluids" and "no record of your existence," or being seated in the lavatory in the first place...jeeze. Get a sense of humor, will ya?

To those people who somehow find it somehow offensive that putting an obese person into the lavatory with you might be uncomfortable, you've already booked your ticket on the Politically Correct flight. You can't fly on this one, because you all have to travel together. You're only allowed to carry on one small item that can't be used as a weapon, and it's definitely not going to be your sense of humor. It might be your tiny brain, though, as long as it can fit into a sandwich bag.

And finally, to the people who are seriously discussing the ailments of the airline industry, but who do not recognize the fundamental problems associated with our consumer choices when we travel...get a clue. As a business owner, a CEO, a manager, or just a normal person, understand that it's our collective inflexibility that forces this kind of thing in the airline industry. If business travelers didn't have to *be there* at 8am, or if the meeting was a teleconference, or if we had more than two weeks vacation time a year, maybe there wouldn't be such a mad rush to get from Point A to Point B and back again.

Maybe we'd take the train?

Maybe there'd be point-to-point air travel?

Today marks the birth of Mohandas K. Gandhi.

I think that's both far more significant, and easily forgotten, than Obama's antiwar speechifying.