You know, I just KNEW somebody would miss that joke, but it's no fun when have to spell the joke out first.

But getting back to someone else’s earlier question asking me to spell out if anything is really worth dying for, I’ll answer it with a famous explanation for warfare from a man by the name of Hermann Goering. Since I was obviously too subtle before, maybe this will resonate a little more strongly. Maybe. If this sounds Rovian, it is--only he plagiarized this clever little tactic.

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While in custody during the Nuremberg trials, Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering was interviewed by a psychologist named Dr. Gustave Gilbert. Gilbert recorded Goering's observations that the common people can always be manipulated into supporting and fighting wars by their political leaders:

We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction.

"Why, of course, the people don't want war," Goering shrugged. "Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship."

"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars."

"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

speaking of good Christians, when was the last time we heard a peep from Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell? This close to a big election, they would normally be in full-on bloviating mode right now. I guess now we know what it takes to shut them up.

there really aren't any fundamental differences between Warner and Edwards, and he saw that they would cancel each other out early in the primaries?

Someone else posted that he'll likely run for the senate when Warner retires. And he's still governor. To suggest he's "giving up" is ridiculous. He's just postponing a possible run for the White House.

Tim Kaine is governor of Virginia now. Sorry.

"how in the HELL do assholes like Shays ever get elected to anything???"

Because Republican voters can always count on him to vote for tax cuts. They can stomach pretty much anything else as long as those tax cuts keep rolling in. Nevermind that the vast majority of those voters aren't benefitting from the Bush tax cuts, but that's just a minor detail. It's the thought that counts.

They didn't plan for post-invasion occupation in Iraq either. This is entirely consistent with their line of thinking. It's not that they haven't thought of it... they just don't understand the need to plan for the possibility of losing until it happens. They're crashing by design.

"Voters in Wyoming have 5 times the power voters in New York or California have."

And oft overlooked.

There are more hispanic voters in the greater Los Angeles area alone than (forgive me, I don't remember the exact number), in 5-7 states combined. It's ridiculous.

that other "winner" who Bush appointed to the FDA, Dr. W. David Hager. Hager, an evangelical Christian, was appointed to the Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), primarily to help block the availability of the morning after pill. Hager's wife accused him in divorce papers of taking advantage of her narcoleptic condition by sodomizing her over a period of several years. So for those of you keeping score at home:

Bush's appointee to the FDA was not in favor of the morning after pill because of his Christian beliefs, but was in favor of anally raping his defenseless wife.

Hager has since remarried. I don' think he's still with the FDA, but I had a hard time confirming that one way or the other.

"It's a guarantee... that republicans are scouring the records to find dems that have done the same types of things republicans are being accused of or admitting to doing."

This wasn't a partisan issue until the cover-up became so obvious. THAT is what made this a partisan issue. Had it just been an issue of a Congressman preying on pages, Foley would have been expelled and that would have been the end of it. There's no way the story would have had traction beyond a week or so. There's just too many other important Republican scandals to focus on than this one guy. But joe's post shows that Republicans are still focused on the fact that 1) Foley is gay and 2) preyed on underage boys. With Democrats, the issue is the cover-up. The Republican House leadership knew about Foley's conduct for a long time, and allowed Foley to continue preying on underage boys rather than face public scrutiny.