Do you have a tune to go along with your lyrics?

I trust he will be prudent and do what he needs to do to maintain security (job number 1 for a US President).

Presidential Oath of Office:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

From the Constitution:

[edit] Section 3: Presidential responsibilities

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;

he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper;

he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers;

he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and

shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

I was making the point that Persia has been an adversary, and a military threat, real or mythological, since probably Jason and the Argonauts. I was also making the point that they are the root culture for a lot of Western, Central, and South Asia, so they are not seen through the current looking glass of the Israel-centric Middle East by a very large number of people, with whom they share culture, language, and history. So yes, I was making a larger point.

The Greeks demonized them (see Thermopylae) the Romans were far worse, Persian influence on Christianity was the subject of some of the crusades, including the one fought in France against the Cathars, and an earlier one against the Bogomils. The term Manichaean, e.g., as heru-ur will probably obligingly point out, is a misnomer for what it means, given the real religion of Mani. Cyrus the Great as an example is not a good reflector of mood of anyone towards the Persians, he was exceptional (The Jews called him a messiah, for instance). Try Darius for a better image. Much less tolerant and more threatening. Or try the attitudes towards the Magi. I made a side point about Muslims and people of Asia Minor in that people go on and on about the anti-semitic tendencies of the Western and Mediterranean Europeans (not without reason) while eating their hot buttered croissants.

I wasn't sure what to make of your comment at all, and still am not. I thought you were implying that the Moguls resented the Persians, which I found to be a strange thing to say. If, though, you were saying that the Moguls brought Persian influence to South Asia, Persian influence on Hindustan wasn't begun with the Moguls by any stretch of the imagination.

So now I'm wondering what you were saying?

After secret peace negotiations between Olmert and Obama over the past few months, Israel has agreed to dismantle all of its West Bank settlements and allow all Palestinian refugees back into their ancestral homes. The Obama team, headed by Dennis Ross, has convinced all Israeli parties to sign on to the deal.

In recognition of Ariel Sharon's historic withdrawal from Gaza, now seen by all as the prelude to this breakthrough, the Israeli side has requested that his name be attached to the final agreement, a condition President-Elect Obama has agreed. Everyone is now waiting anxiously for the treaty to take effect, which, by common consent between American and Israeli negotiators, will happen the minute Sharon signs it.

Note: This from "A Tiny Revolution". I can not find independent verification.

Note2: what exactly is "snark"?

"The same is true for almost all trangressions by the Bush administration. I have only been TOLD, no one has SHOWN me such.

The public information about KSM is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalid_Shaikh_Mohammed

based on which reasonable persons can come to conclusions, not about what KSM can be convicted of in a court, but about what kind of threat he poses.

Oh really? "Reasonable persons" now draw conclusions as to some ones guilt by reading a wiki entry, do they? My, standards of justice really have slipped since my day.

So what does former SecDef Perry mean when he predicts that Obama will soon face a serious crisis with respect to Iran?

-- Chris Sinnard

He means:

"We are going to bomb those suckers back to the stone age"

We all know this tune, don't we? You've only forgotten the words, Chris.

It's almost enough to make one think that there are forces in the US that are perfectly content to see Israel's compulsively self-defeating behavior continue until it spirals out of control. If I were an Israeli citizen, frankly, I'd feel rather played.

Let's see, who consigns these two groups of non-Christians to live in perpetual hell, now and forever?

MOTUS is performing far beyond any of my expectations. Who knew he was this smart? I think he really did use wright and ayers to get his liberal badges just so he could get elected.

How else can you explain his now measured and rational thinking?

Anti-Constitutional Whining from the Peed-my-pants Brigade

Jim Jones (a/k/a Father of the Constitution) says: Have some more Kool-Aid, my friend. It will soothe whatever ails you.

"I think he really did use wright and ayers to get his liberal badges just so he could get elected"

I'm still banking on Barack "saying anything" to appease the Rethugs and do what's just and correct, although from his past record (ala FISA), it's hard to discern. That strategy demands tricky rhetoric, though, and he sure wasn't very smooth on the ABC interview. I'm afraid he's going to hang himself with all the obfuscation, especially since we're living in an electronic age where everyone can monitor and record what's being said and not being said (in other words, it's going to be hard to walk back from such statements if the Repubes reiterate them, being as clear as they were).

On today's Bush parting shot... er I mean last press conference-WOW! There is no give in this arrogant thugee, is there? I've known looong before the movie "W" came out he was a crook, but it seemed to me most everyone in that room was viewing him as the sweaty, drunk, and dirty cheerleader calling his dad from jail. I think the journalists were just covering their flunky asses by asking so many predatory questions, but ask they did and it made me smile to see him perspire. Like young wolves sensing the Alpha has broken a limb, they circled. Good. But just as I'm certain of Hilter stalking in his bunker, bombs thudding softly overhead, ranting how a come back was possible and refusing to assess reality, so is Junior defiantly stating that the response to Katrina was swift and magnificent (among all his other revisions). That there were no mistakes, merely disappointments.

I imagine if Junior was offered a cigarette and blindfold, he'd refuse the smoke because mountain biking is the way he lets off steam, smirking to the end.

As always, thank you kindly for shedding light in this dark well of madness. The ones that don't see the truth you speak of are delusional and there are many reasons for that. Some I can forgive, but others are just being stubbornly stupid. Just like our president.