I have female soldiers working for me and I have worked for female officers.

Frankly, about the ONLY time I see the difference is during the PT test. See, when you're in uniform, all I see is the uniform. I realize that is a foreign concept to civilians but it's true. When you are in the battlefield, all you see are your comrades, period.

Now on the the PT test, it IS true that women have FAR more time to run 2 miles than men (frankly, I find it irritating that a 20 year old woman has more time to run 2 miles than a 50 year old man!) and they also have to do far less pushups as well (which doesn't bother me as much as men have greater upper body strength). The situps have been relatively restructured so that the are almost equal now.

Other than the PT test, I really don't see much of a difference by having women in the military. It tears us up inside when either one is injured on the field.

Oh and BTW, I have had one female soldier get sexually harrassed...by ANOTHER female soldier. I was ready to tear someone a NEW one...but my soldier told me to let it go...and I told her if she changed her mind or it happened again, I would definitely get someone in serious trouble! We take care of our own!

Ok...and that means they have to accept FULL responsibility for it from their constituents.

There was a song about this:

Tower of the Teeth

Win the battle, lose the war,

Choice of evils lie before your feet,

Retreat, Retreat, Retreat!

If you win then you will lose,

Choice of evils yours to choose,

Retreat...

Retreat, retreat, retreat!

"If you're the latter, don't worry about the republicans, cuz you aren't making it out of the primaries next election. And until then, your life will be a FUCKING HELL (Rahm may deliver that last part)""

The problem with this part of the analysis is that the constituents of these Blue Dog Democrats may have something to say about this. Of course if they vote this thru, they won't have to worry about making ONTO the primaries, as they won't get a single vote to make it there.

Choice of evil, yours to choose.

Not if reconciliation is brought into the equation.

Then the White House can afford to lose 8 or 9 Senate Democrats (ie. Senator Conrad...etc.) and still pass the bill. It may mean war, but it would show that the White House has the balls to get what it wants. If the GOP doesn't want a seat at the table of the health care reform debate, then take that seat away.

Then the Democrats had better be ready to get his hard in 2010 AND 2012! Their constituents will be PO'd and the DNC will be on everyone's dog list!

It really WILL be interesting to see how the freshmen Democrats vote on this bill...tough choice for them. Will they vote per their constituents...or will they vote per the party line advocated by the DNC?

Of course, since they are freshmen, they don't have 5 continuous years in the federal employee plan. So in Jan. 2011, they might join us in being eligible for government Healthcare. Wonder if THAT will have any impact on their decision??? LOL

Freshmen Dems torn by party, voters on health care

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090819/ap_on_re_us/us_health_care_freshmen

a majority of the US citizenry DO NOT WANT this bill to pass. Now, granted the Democrats may be able to ram it thru...but at what cost?

You see, there are some Blue Dog Democrats who cannot afford to vote for it without losing their jobs...and some freshmen democrats who would face losing their jobs early on.

Worse, some seasoned Democrats ALREADY are facing problems being reelected in 2010 (i.e. Specter)

Remindes me of the Towers of the Teeth song:

Win the battle, lose the war,

Choice of evils lie before your feet,

Retreat, Retreat, Retreat!

If you win then you will lose,

Choice of evils yours to choose,

Retreat...

Retreat, retreat, retreat!

"Luckily, the DNC and Constituents all want the same thing! You see, we had a little thing called an election. And, haven't you seen the polls, over 90% of people want healthcare reform."

BWHAHAHAHAHA! Apparently you haven't been keeping up with the polls. I SAID they don't want THIS healthcare bill passed...not that they didn't want healthcare REFORM passed...BIG difference.

BTW, I suspect Arlen Specter and Barney Frank among others would argue with you about what the consitutents want. Check out the town hall meetings they are conducting, if you doubt it.

"I'm still waiting for youse guys to show me the Death Panel legislation. In the HR3200 bill. Or maybe you think I'm too elitist to be swayed by your evidence free arguments..."

I BELIEVE what is being brought up as the "death panel" legislation is section 1233 - here is a site that I think seems to address the issue at hand.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090813115306AA45kOp

And while I am not against Healthcare reform, I am against this bill as it seems to squash private competition and does not address tort reform or other issues which have driven up healthcare costs.