I don't know what would be a good topic. The tsunami is at the forefront, but it's been beaten to death.

I get to thinking it's a shame that birtherism, despite its inherent nonsense, is actually gaining some momentum. They start with a premise that isn't true, specifically that Obama isn't eligible (which he is), then create apocalyptic scenarios of some horrible constitutional crisis, which seems to be somewhat effective in convincing the gullible that there must be something to it...yet their original premise is bullshit, so all the crisis talk is moot.

I think the most distressing thing about birthers is that they simply don't care that they're forwarding lies about the laws of our land and the constitution. It's all about pursuing a political agenda, and there is nothing sacred, not even the Constitution.

In recalling the story that Amy posted about the woman who is suing the Nutella company because she was under the impression that it was supposed to be a healthy product, but it's full of sugar and saturated fat -- as is peanut butter, but never mind -- I actually decided to try some yesterday.

It's chocolate frosting! You could ice a cake with the stuff, it tastes just like chocolate frosting! Who would feed this stuff to their kids and imagine they were giving anything to them but dessert. It's got the texture (could perhaps be a tad thicker), taste and appearance of chocolate icing. Nasty! Why would someone put icing on a slice of bread?

I'm in Daytona this weekend, among the hordes of bikers large and small, fine and nasty. I'd be in Tucson to say Hello but the Transporter screwed up - all it did was flash, and now I have these funny hairs on my back...

...I'll be a big hit at DragonCon. Come see me, and the other, minor folk mentioned at the link, there!

Patrick, I have to admit that I bought the Nutella too out of curiosity. My son who has a ridiculous sweet tooth tried it and said the same thing. He has friends who put it on toast and he wanted to know who frosts toast! There is a commercial out that the mother does that but I view it the same as if Fluff came out and told me to put it on toast.

Patrick, I've known about Nutella for about 20 years now, even though they just started advertising it. I'll admit that I love it, and occasionally buy it as a decadent dessert. I too am baffled that they are trying to market it as a breakfast food (and a healthy one at that!) Why not just admit what it really is, and show people in the commercials spreading it on chocolate chip cookies (yes, I've done this, I'm pathetic!)

On birthers: I agree with Patrick that Obama is eligible to be President and that he was born in Hawaii.

Still the small pebble in my shoe: Why won't Obama produce his birth certificate ? He does that and all the birther issues die instantly.

Tyler Durden for President!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJdfWdIBfE8

I put nutella on things like graham crackers or fruit. For dessert. It's like the filling in those tasty little hazelnut chocolates Ferro whatever- in the gold wrappers.

Nutella? About the same as peanut butter, is how we viewed it. Not bad, but don't call it anything other than what it is.

Saw an interesting thing last night at the county Spelling Bee. Most of the contestants (my youngest included) were in middle school, with a scattering of upper grade-schoolers. One speller appeared to be an outlier: well south of four feet tall, this wiggly little blond-haired girl couldn't even peer over the podium. When it was her turn to spell, someone had to bend the microphone down as far as it would go, and even then, she was completely hidden by the podium.

There was no mistaking where she was, though; when she spelled her words, her voice was loud, confident, and surprisingly deep. When it wasn't her turn to spell, she was a little fidget, shifting back and forth in her seat. She lasted an awfully long time, and when she finally missed, she got more applause than any other child there. Out of twenty-five spellers, she placed fourth. Her age? Almost six!

Two things on my mind today:

1) Nuclear power. Thoughts? This is gonna be a big deal, since those nuclear plants in Japan are under a state of emergency. The company I work for is trying to permit a plant in South Texas, and the current happenings in Japan are going to throw a huge wrench in that process. (There are occasionally minor earthquakes that nobody even notices in North Texas, but never South.)

2) Vacations with todders. Suggestions for cities/national parks/etc? Not Disney.

Peanut butter...

180-190 cals per serving (doesn't say how big, generally its 2 tbsp)
16 g fat
7 g carb
7-8 g protein
2% calcium
4% iron
10% vit E
10% folate
20% niacin

http://www.teddie.com/nutrition.html

2 tbsp nutella

200 calories
11 g fat
22 g carb
3 g protein

4% Calcium
4% Iron

... how are these comparable exactly? I guess in the Iron content... and Nutella is slightly better for calcium...

My thoughts on nuclear plants: don't build them on coastlines in earthquake-prone regions?

Vacation... where do you live? Boston has a good children's museum, aquarium, and swan boats, and you can easily day trip to beaches. There's also boaty stuff you can do.

Philadelphia also has a good children's museum called "the Please Touch Museum" and is a very walkable city.

We had a great vacation in Chicago with my BIL and his son who was about 3 at the time. I recommend the Bean sculpture, the science museum (forget the name of it), the cool fountain in Grant park, the freshwater beach, the aquarium, the free zoo...

Switzerland has great stuff for kids, train rides, a miniature train to ride at the Swiss vapor park, boats on the lakes... I think its Haselberg that has a cute trail for kids with miniature structures for dwarves.

Paris is a great city over all, with the puppet shows, fountains, parks, etc.

When your kids get a little older 5-12ish, go to Maho Bay in St. John, it's cool canvas tents you sleep in on platforms, with little kitchenettes.

ahw, it IS the stuff in the Ferraro chocolates, its the same company/

I live in Austin, TX NicoleK. And I haven't been to any of the cities you mentioned, yet. (We tried to plan a weekend trip to Chicago last year- without Baby- and it got derailed.)

ahw, what age toddler? Into dinosaurs yet? Rose-something in north texas has awesome fossils and dino stuff, and an amazing safari park. Easy weekend trip.

New Orleans is great-cool aquarium and zoo, the street cars are fun.

Ft Worth is neat for those into cowboys, they have a cattle drive every day and cool museums.

For longer trips from here, north carline is awesome. Great beaches, aquariums, zoos, some mountains.....

Nick: On birthers: I agree with Patrick that Obama is eligible to be President and that he was born in Hawaii.

Still the small pebble in my shoe: Why won't Obama produce his birth certificate ? He does that and all the birther issues die instantly.

You think they would? I don't. The only consistent thing about birthers is their inconsistency. You jump through one hoop and they demand you jump through more.

When Obama first produced the Certification of Live Birth (COLB), birthers pounced on it, claiming it was a forgery, claiming it didn't have a raised seal and no signature stamp. Then truthout.org proved that it did have those elements, and the birthers changed their tune, claiming that they had to see the long form birth certificate.

Well, no, they don't. The only thing we need to know about the President is that 1) he's a natural born citizen (which he is), he's at least 35 years of age, and 3) he's lived in the country for 14 years.

The Certification of Live Birth is considered a self-authenticating, prima facie document. Hawaii produced it and under the "Full Faith and Credit Clause" of the Constitution, it cannot be refused by any court in the country.

In my exchanges with birthers, I've come to the conclusion that they are not merely misinformed. They are deliberate propagandists intent on spreading false information, trying to create the impression that there is some Constitutional crisis that our elected officials are either too fearful or too ignorant to address.

They have tried to claim that he was born in Kenya (producing birth certificates that were proven forgeries). Or that you have to have two citizen parents in order to be considered natural born.

The accusation that he was born in Kenya is irrelevant, since his mother's citizenship would have extended to him, regardless of where he was born, and no, you don't have to have two citizen parents to be considered natural born. A natural born citizen is one who is considered a citizen by birth. The fourteenth amendment only allows for two types of citizens: natural born and naturalized. If one is a citizen, then it's one or the other.

One could be born in the U.S. to illegal aliens and still be considered natural born. Anyone born on U.S. soil, under U.S. jurisdiction is a natural born citizen. The only way a person could be born in the U.S. and not be natural born is if they are born to foreign diplomats (who have immunity and thus aren't subject to U.S. jurisdiction, or born to foreign armed forces personnel. Everyone else is an NBC.

I've also seen the suggestion that since Obama was born a dual citizen, he can't be natural born. One does not exclude the other. It's perfectly possible to be both.

So, he could probably produce the soi-disant "original form," but under Federal Rules of Evidence, 1001(3), the COLB actually is, in the eyes of the law, an "original birth certificate."

But argue this with birthers until you're blue in the face, and it won't matter. They relaunch the same refuted claptrap, because they're not engaged in any honest inquiry about the president's legitimacy. They're trying to convince the American populace that he isn't a natural born citizen.

I would choose peanut butter any day. The carbs are much lower (7 to Nutella's 22) and its protein much higher (7-8 to Nutella's 3). It sounds like Nutella has an awful lot of sugar in it. And anyway, what could taste better than peanut butter? (Except maybe bacon.)

Pirate Jo: It's terrible. I was expecting a hazelnut flavored spread, with a subtle taste of chocolate, but it's nothing like that. The chocolate and sweetness overpowers anything else. It may as well be chocolate flavored tofu or chocolate flavored mayonnaise, for all the hazelnut I could taste.

It might not be bad on certain things, but like Kristen's son noted, who puts chocolate frosting on toast?

It's not that it tastes bad. It would be great to frost a cake with, but I just didn't expect chocolate icing when I spread it on a slice of bread.

Ahw, I don't know how far you want to travel but as a New Yorker, I'm a little biased. New York City has everything!!!! Although when the kids were younger I preferred a beach vacation. It was more relaxing for me.

Amy, Any chance at getting on C-Span's Book TV?

Patrick,

I heard about the birther issue. I quite frankly don't care because that horse has already left the barn. If they could have proved it prior to his only inaugural, it might have stopped it. At this point it is a matter of stopping the damage.

Which reminds me, I need to send an e-mail to my liberal rep protesting Obamacare in the CR.

Patrick, I am not a big fan of sweets. An occasional donut or something with cream cheese in it maybe, or dark chocolate. My weakness is more for salty snacks, like chips with sour cream dip or crackers with cheesy spreads. I have known people who would eat frosting straight out of the container. Ick.

Favorite treat: The Unholy - a cracker with a piece of aged cheese on it, topped by a smidge of berry jam. It takes miles if biking to burn that off. Yet since The Unholy and biking are both fun, I feel no shame. ;-)

Patrick,

Of all the nonsensical arguments that the birther morons use, The "long form" birth certificate argument is by far the funniest. How can it be that these people don't ask themselves, "where is MY long form birth certificate?".

I certainly don't have anything other than the one birth certificate. Mother's name, father's name, my name, date, hospital. That's about as long as the form gets.

You're absolutely right that they're not engaging in honest discussion. But, their ridiculous propaganda seems to be working. Even reasonable people like Nick are under the impression that the president has not produced his birth certificate. Guess what, Nick -- he has. If they keep saying it, people will think there is something to it.

So Nick, I challenge you to produce your long form birth certificate. I don't want to see it, but ask yourself if you could produce one. Here's a hint, you can't. There isn't any such thing.

I also think it's hilarious that those people spent so much time accusing President Obama of being born in Kenya while never questioning that the womb he emerged from belonged to an American. That's all you need. Heck, if your father is American, you don't even need that. Senator McCain was born overseas, I think Panama, out of an American womb, and is unquestionably a natural born American.

A bit dated, but since it's relevant to the budget discussion a few threads back, here's an interesting interactive tool where you can play with various scenarios for fixing both our short- and long-term federal deficit issues.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/13/weekinreview/deficits-graphic.html

Should ODD be removed from the DSM? I currently have a student with all of these symptoms and have found a way to work with him, but most teachers CANNOT work with these students. Is the language in the DSM Orwellian (Big Brother) and what does that say about our society?

http://www.youtube.com/user/samvaknin#p/u/39/k0VOSHxIj5s

You're absolutely right that they're not engaging in honest discussion. But, their ridiculous propaganda seems to be working.

I don't think that there is anything that Obama could produce that would quash the birther nonsense. Conspiracy theorists are possessed of a particular sort of crazy that defies the simple and logical explanation; they can always come up an even more convoluted explanation for something when their original evidence collapses. The 9/11 truth movement a few years back that claimed there was evidence that the attacks that day were an inside job was very much the same. What is interesting is the way that the birther conspiracy has woven its way into our politics such that some national figures have had a tough time denying it publicly, though this is fortunately becoming less and less common.

Momof4, I think you're talking about Glen Rose. I went on a field trip there when I was in elementary school, but I don't remember much about it. That'll probably be good in a year or so- right now she'll just want to sprinkle dirt in her hair and chew on fossils.
She's almost 16 months, but we won't go anywhere until after June- not that it's that far off. If we go anywhere that involves flying, it probably won't be until after she's two. She does well in museums,aquariums, and zoos. We might try a beach again soon- went last year but she was only 6 months old. Hopefully not in Texas- our beaches are better than nothing, but not much. Plus, the hotels all smell like mildew.
We might try a road trip this summer, but I think that even getting to drive 6-8 hours a day is pretty generous. I've made it from New Braunfels to Panama City, FL in 13 hours before, but that was years ago, and I doubt that she'd cooperate.
*****
I think the birthers are just grasping at anything they can to illegitimatize Obama's presidency. I also think that the people who really think that he isn't legally qualified to be president love conspiracy theories in general. Alex Jones (infowars) can either be a million laughs a minute, or very convincing, depending on what you WANT to believe.

whistleDick, you bring to mind one of the old arguments that birthers use, insisting that since they doubt that Obama was born in America (although they have no evidence to believe otherwise), they insist that according to the "best evidence rule," they're entitled to see the soi-disant "original" and not the COLB.

The best evidence rule is Federal Rule of Evidence 1002, which reads: "To prove the content of a writing, recording, or photograph, the original writing, recording, or photograph is required, except as otherwise provided in these rules or by Act of Congress."

So, an original is required...or would be if they had any basis to doubt the COLB. But what is an original?

Federal Rule of Evidence 1001(3): "An 'original' of a writing or recording is the writing or recording itself or any counterpart intended to have the same effect by a person executing or issuing it. An 'original' of a photograph includes the negative or any print therefrom. If data are stored in a computer or similar device, any printout or other output readable by sight, shown to reflect the data accurately, is an 'original.'"

So, his COLB is an "original" birth certificate.

Pirate Jo, the "Unholy" sounds very good. Now you've gotten me wanting to try it. I think I have a jar a raspberry jam in my pantry.

Christopher, I agree. I rank birthers with 9/11 truthers. They see the courts' summary dismissals of their claims as part of some vast, insidious plot to keep Obama in office, as his removal would result in massive civil war or something...instead of the more plausible explanation that there's simply nothing to birtherism.

As it turns out, there is at least one court who decided to hear this claim...before dismissing it.

The Indiana Court of Appeals, in hearing the case of Steve Ankeny and Bill Kruse v. The Governor of the State of Indiana, arrived at this conclusion:

Based upon the language of Article II, Section 1, Clause 4 and the guidance provided by Wong Kim Ark, we conclude that persons born within the borders of the United States are “natural born Citizens” for Article II, Section 1 purposes, regardless of the citizenship of their parents. Just as a person “born within the British dominions [was] a natural-born British subject” at the time of the framing of the U.S. Constitution, so too were those “born in the allegiance of the United States [] natural-born citizens.”

But the birthers I have shown this to simply say, "It's not SCOTUS, so it doesn't count."

But unless the case makes its way to SCOTUS and they strike it down, it does count.

The Wong Kim Ark case that they're referring to is an 1898 case, in which the SCOTUS ruled that a child born in the States to Chinese parents who maintained a residence but we not citizens was in fact a citizen of the U.S. by birth, i.e. a natural born citizen.

"What is interesting is the way that the birther conspiracy has woven its way into our politics such that some national figures have had a tough time denying it publicly..."

That's the creepiest thing about it and what makes it unbelievably frustrating. Governor Huckabee just the other week was again planting the Muslim bug in people's ear. He knows that there are old ladies in Arkansas that are barely paying attention and will latch on to this notion. He knows damn well that President Obama wasn't raised a Muslim. It's unethical as hell.

I remember when General Clark had his short candidacy for President. I thought, very early on, that he might be a good candidate. Then, he had that Michael Moore buffoon speak at one of his rallies and call President Bush a traitor. A traitor? Really? I wasn't a fan of President Bush's policies, but he's a good man and anything but a traitor. The next Sunday, General Clark was asked if he endorsed Mr. Moore's statement. While not endorsing the statement, he refused to say that President Bush wasn't a traitor and was finished right then and there.

Why don't Republican voters throw someone over in the same way when they unethically smear someone based on absolutely nothing?

That 9/11 truth movement was about the most disgusting thing ever. You didn't see any prominent Democrats subtly encouraging it, though -- at least I don't remember any.

By contrast, the swift boat thing was pretty sick, too. Though it wasn't nearly as sick as the 9/11 truther thing, it became the mainstream Republican talking point. Remember that ad that featured a military medic saying, "I saw John Kerry's wounds, and they didn't rise to the level of a purple heart"? (paraphrased)

I'm in the military and the fact that he had any wounds at all means that it rose to the level of a purple heart -- and that medic knew this. I have a buddy who was in Kobar towers, Saudi Arabia, when Al Qaeda blew it up. He was pretty lucky and his only injuries were cuts on his feet from broken glass as he evacuated in his sleepwear. Guess what? Purple Heart. He may have needed a few stitches, but I don't think so.

My point is that I'm getting tired of Republicans using dirty tricks like these and I'm tired of their constituents letting them get away with it. I'm old enough to remember when they were a real party that could win on the strength of their ideals. They still have good ideas, crap like that just spoils them for me.

Patrick,

You're absolutely right.

I don't have my original birth certificate. My parents' apartment caught fire when I was a baby and it's gone. The hospital was happy to provide a copy and it works great for getting a passport in spite of not having a raised seal. I guess I'll have to take "get elected president" off my bucket list. I'm white though, so I don't think it would be an issue.

Obama could be from Mars for all I care (agreed birthers are a joke). It doesn't change my impression of him one way or the other. He is a political coward, unable and/or unwilling to have an opinion on anything other then his abysmal health care bill (which by the way he didn’t even write).

If in-fact he believes so strongly in federally controlled healthcare, why has he given over 1000 exceptions to unions, large corporations and now the entire state of Maine? This man negates everything he does so he has “plausible deniability” removing him from any responsibility what-so-ever. Just look at his senate record:

http://www.opencongress.org/people/voting_history/400629_Barack_Obamarecord

He abstains from voting the majority of the time and changes his vote over and over again when he does. He has followed suit as president.

I don’t care what anyone’s party affiliation or political slant is. I just want to know how his supporters can continue to defend his complete inability to take a firm stand on anything. Exactly how inept of a president does he have to be, before his supporters stop believing in him. Just curious…..

Ed, I do agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of Obama. I was for McCain...not because I was all that gung-ho about him, or his running mate, but because he had the best chance of keeping Obama the Vile out of office.

I only object to people circulating lies and misinformation about the laws of our land and our Constitution. I'm sure that if I confronted the propagandists at WND for this malfeasance, I would get a massive "So, what?" in reply.

It's what scares me about Republicans. There's no ethics to appeal to when it comes to getting in power. If you support the principles of the Republican Party, all well and good, but remember, as Rove has shown us with the Swiftboaters, they have no reservations about lying when it comes to accomplishing their agenda...so, how honor bound do you think they are about keeping promises to their constituents?

You'll see it on this board, as well. Complaints about underhanded dealings done by Republicans are dismissed as unimportant.

Something you guys might find interesting, with all of the discussions of the TSA:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-03-11-tsa-scans_N.htm?sms_ss=reddit&at_xt=4d7b239d685188fd%2C0

Ed,

See? The complaints you have against President Obama are all legitimate. They are the same complaints that a lot of liberals have about his performance.

So why do the Republicans continue to besmirch their own credibility with things like the Muslim nonsense as Governor Huckabee was doing recently?

"I just want to know how his supporters can continue to defend his complete inability to take a firm stand on anything. Exactly how inept of a president does he have to be, before his supporters stop believing in him. Just curious….."

I'm still a strong supporter of President Obama and I don't think ineptitude describes him at all. He is way more pragmatic than those on the far left or right would prefer. His methods don't lend themselves well to being boiled down to a bumper sticker, but he is getting shit done. You may not agree with the direction as I do, but you have to admit that he has accomplished a lot more than a frothing-at-the-mouth idealist would have been able to do.

Patrick,

What is WND?

Amy,

How is Tucson? I'll be moving there this fall and I'm wondering if the weather is as oppressive as I've heard. It seems like a fairly nice place from what I've read. Is there a cool flavor to the city, or are there too many hippies? What are your thoughts on the place?

WND = World News Daily, the engine behind birtherism.

". . . but he is getting shit done."

Oh, he's getting shit done, all right: continuing the most egregious abuses of the Bush administration, such as warrantless spying on American citizens; kowtowing to the wealthiest of the wealthy; continuing these insane wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; increasing drone attacks in Pakistan and Yemen that kill thousands of civilians; supporting the irradiating, groping, and humiliating of millions of travelers; expanding the scope and depth of the security state; torturing Bradley Manning; and masterfully talking out of both sides of his mouth.

As someone who voted for him and now sees she was bamboozled, I won't be making that mistake again. I'm sick of the lesser-of-two-evils approach. I'm writing in Nader in 2012.

Sorry, WND is World NET Daily, not World NEWS Daily.

Lisa, a very accurate summation of the Obama Administration. He needs to go, and as soon as possible.

Lisa,

Again, legitimate concerns. I think you may be a bit misinformed, though.

Kowtowing to the wealthy? Are you serious?

He's largely stopped the war in Iraq. Pulling out of such a thing takes a while. You can't be irresponsible with it. I've been there recently (Mosul -- formerly a pretty fucking nasty place) and believe me, it's pretty much over now.

Afghanistan isn't an insane war. It's not working out the way we thought, but President Bush was very, very right to send us in there. We may have reached a point of diminishing returns and will have to constantly reevaluate, but I trust President Obama to decide when the time to pop smoke will be. He hasn't yet been accused of being stupid. By the way, I haven't been there.

I'll have to look at the warrantless spying on Americans thing. If that were so, I'd be very disappointed. If you can be bothered to provide a reference, I'd appreciate it.

I totally support the drone attacks in Pakistan and Yemen while lamenting the loss of civilian life. That's one of those absolutely heartbreaking decisions that make a president go grey and age so quickly. I question your "thousands" figure, though.

How has the "security state" been expanded?

I don't know who Bradley Manning is, but I'd be interested to hear his story.

I'm glad to see that you will be a non-voter (writing in Nader is the equivalent) in 2012.

Mr. whistleDick,

Bradley Manning is the American soldier who has been held in solitary confinement for the past 10 months, without a trial, without even charges placed against him until last week, for allegedly supplying documents and the video that showed an American helicopter targeting and killing civilians in Iraq to Wikileaks. IF he is the person who supplied these documents, then he should be lauded as a hero for exposing not only that crime but many others committed by our government in our names. Just one link:

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/03/10/amnesty/index.html

Amy suggested we not post more than one link so we don't get booted to the spam folder, so I'll just answer your other questions and trust that you can do some Googling to find sources on your own.

Warrantless spying and unwarranted search and seizure: the Patriot Act, and provisions therein that Obama is trying to strengthen rather than dismantle, even though he campaigned on dismantling them.

The odious Patriot Act, in concert with an enormous expansion of the budget to DHS, is part & parcel of the increasing security state.

TSA abuses: I'm a journalist, and I've taken on the TSA over the past couple of years as a kind of unofficial beat. I have compiled documentation about thousands of assaults by TSA agents against citizens -- and those are only the ones that have gotten press or that have been told to me personally. Logic dictates that there are thousands upon thousands more that never get publicized. Over 2 million people a day fly in this country. But don't take my word for it -- the ACLU (which has sold out in many respects, yes, I know) has also been compiling testimony. In just one month last fall they received over 1,000 stories -- and keep in mind that 1) plenty of people have never even heard of the ACLU, 2) plenty of others hate it and wouldn't report to it if their lives depended on it, 3) plenty of people don't bother reporting to any organization, thinking there's no point, and 4) many people just tell family and friends. EPIC has also compiled stories of abuse, and they're the ones spearheading this lawsuit currently in the courts (it started on March 10th). Many other individual citizens have also filed suit; I have their names as well but this comment is too long already.

Obama kowtowing the wealthy: the tax "compromise" that was a give-away to the top 2% of the population in this country, under the guise that it will somehow help everybody. His refusal to go after the big money guys, the Wall Street titans and corporate masters who give the Dems as much money as they give the Repubs, who call the shots.

I think that my politics probably differ from Amy's in many respects -- I'm a longtime leftist -- but I also think that the left/right dichotomy makes less and sense anymore. I believe in the rule of law, in justice for the poor as well as the wealthy, and certainly in civil liberties -- passionately. And I have no problem calling out hypocrisies when and where I see them -- which is why I've been loudly proclaiming for some time now that Obama is a fraud, something many of my supposedly liberal friends can't bring themselves to do.

We can't all agree on all issues, I know that. But the attitude that "it's okay if my side does it" is execrable no matter who's stating it.

"I totally support the drone attacks in Pakistan and Yemen..."

Wow.

Is there anyone else you want to kill without even finding out who they are?

Speaking of underhanded Republican dealings, there is the matter of $105 billion dollars for Obamaocare in the up-and-coming CR.

Regarding that $105 billion for Obamacare:

Bachmann said that "secretly, unbeknownst to members of Congress, over $105 billion was hidden in the Obamacare legislation." She’s right that there’s about $105 billion of already approved spending in the health care bill that may be difficult to rescind. But that does not mean that the process was secret. While the pre-approved spending provisions didn’t attract media attention, they were in the plain language of the bill and did not vary dramatically from past congressional practice. And the bill was made public before the vote. On balance, we rate Bachmann’s statement Barely True.

http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/mar/08/michele-bachmann/michele-bachmann-charges-health-care-bill-spent-10/

Oh yeah, that Bradley Manning. You mean the guy that admitted to releasing classified information? What a douche bag. He should be shot rather than be hailed as a hero. If whistle blowing was his aim, he had other avenues for that.

The tax compromise was just that, a compromise. I completely agree that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy should have expired. So does President Obama. He represents only one branch of government. You can't win 'em all.

"Is there anyone else you want to kill without even finding out who they are?"

Those aren't random attacks. Predators follow those clowns around for weeks and months before some general gives the order to strike. Those decisions aren't taken lightly.

We're definitely struggling with finding a balance between security and freedoms. I'll agree that President Obama could be better on this front. He's a lot better than anybody the Republicans offer, though. Yes, I've heard of the ACLU and have been a member for many years.

"Those aren't random attacks. Predators follow those clowns around for weeks and months before some general gives the order to strike. Those decisions aren't taken lightly."

Really.

Care to describe the process, including the transfer of authority from the foreign government to a US military unit?

I know they're not "random". I also know how cheap someone else's life is -- on the word of a suit in a press conference.

"We're definitely struggling with finding a balance between security and freedoms."

Bull. We're looking at nothing but power grabbing, and at your expense every bit as much as mine. You can tell by the theatrics. You can tell by the pass the current Administration gets, as it does exactly the same things the previous one was accused of war crimes for.

You could even add a spoonful of sugar to your peanut butter (16 g) and it would have about the same amount of sugar as nutella, and it would still have more protein and nutrients.

"Care to describe the process, including the transfer of authority from the foreign government to a US military unit?"

No, I don't care to describe the process. I'm not Bradley Manning. As someone who has been in the room (fly on the wall level of involvement) when such decisions are made, I don't think I'm overstepping by saying that great, great, great care is taken to avoid civilian casualties. Civilian casualties are a horrifying tragedy.

While the lives of our Nation's enemies are certainly cheap, I can guarantee you that the leaders of the U.S. military regard innocent lives as tremendously precious. That guy in the suit at your press conference may be glossing things over, but he is many miles away from the decision-making General who can't sleep because his soul hurts and he can't stop crying.

"Bull. We're looking at nothing but power grabbing, and at your expense every bit as much as mine."

I agree that it's at both our peril. Also, I agree that it has been going too far. I don't agree, however, that it is a willful 'power grab'. I think that both President Bush and President Obama are good Americans who have done what they thought was best for the country.

Also, the war crimes accusations against President Bush were total bullshit.

I do see the hypocrisy from the left that the same accusations aren't being leveled at President Obama. Either extremes aren't well known for their objectivity.

"Oh yeah, that Bradley Manning. You mean the guy that admitted to releasing classified information? What a douche bag. He should be shot rather than be hailed as a hero. If whistle blowing was his aim, he had other avenues for that."

Sigh. So much bullshit, so little time.

Bradley Manning has admitted nothing. But Obama's military clearly wants him to admit something -- anything -- which is why they've been trying to break him for the past 10 months by solitary confinement and psychological torture. Oh, wait, lemme guess -- you're one of those people who think that the only kind of torture that exists involves a medieval rack or thumb screws.

So nice to meet another torture apologist in this country. There are so many of them.

And yeah, those drone attacks are "surgical strikes." And the REMFs (look it up) who order them are crying real tears. Right. But what's a few thousand civilians here and there when an empire is at stake? Especially if they're not Americans. As we all know, Americans' lives are worth more than those of anyone else.

Re Bradley Manning -- Chrisopher, Manning tried to go up the chain of command when he saw Iraqis being tortured by the Iraqi government we put in power and keep in power. They were being tortured because they wrote a paper, they were academics, asking "Where did the money go?" He told his commander and was told to ignore it and continue rounding up Iraqis for the government.

Assuming what he is accused of is true and we do not know that as he has not be tried and has not said anything, Manning saw war crimes on his computer -- U.S. soldiers killing civilians, including reporters, among many other examples. He saw diplomatic cables that showed Hillary Clinton order U.S. diplomats to illegally spy on other diplomats,

He had a choice -- be complicit in crimes or expose them. Nuremberg makes it clear that 'just following orders' is not an excuse. He is not accused of selling the documents to Iran or China, he allegedly gave them to the media. If he is punished for exposing war crimes, while people who commit war crimes go free it shows a great sickness in the U.S.

Last week a soldier who mutiliated Afghans was sentenced to 9 months work detail on his base (not even in prison!) while Manning sits tortured in solitary confinement for ten months, now has his clothes taken away from him, and he has not even been convicted.

If he is guilty the infor he provided helped bring down dictators in the Middle East and ended abusive security state government; they exposed criminal wrongdoing by our government -- rather than punish him lets use this as an opportunity to stop being a rogue superpower that blackmails, threatens and bribes governments to get our way. See http://bit.ly/hqaJ6O

"I don't think I'm overstepping by saying that great, great, great care is taken to avoid civilian casualties."

Which is why you support shooting anonymous people who are not actually shooting at Americans, are not identified other than by behavior, on the word of "some general".

I'm not being a "dove" here. What I'm opposing is the tactic of using the drone to patch up failed and immoral foreign policy, to raise the effectiveness of an effort crippled by that policy. It puts our soldiers at mortal risk by calling for them to be police, not soldiers. It assumes an authority it does not have over a populace that acts exactly as rednecks in the USA would if the UN were forcibly encamped here.

And that policy enables the American public to ignore Congress' malfeasance of office - as they ignore even learning where Afghanistan is in favor of more crap about Charlie Sheen.

Shooting people with drones. That's what you're endorsing. Just want to be clear at last about that.

If it's good for people who act a certain way in Afghanistan, then it's good for smugglers in northern Mexico. Right?

"You think they would? I don't. The only consistent thing about birthers is their inconsistency. "

Yeah, conspiracy theorists never let go of a pet conspiracy just because you produce evidence that absolutely, positively refutes it. Too much of their identities is tied up in the idea that they are smarter and know more than everyone else, because they believe in these conspiracies.

As for Bradley Manning, he was very indiscriminate in what classified info he spilled. People who aren't in the system don't realize how much harm he has done. We've been dealing with some of the implications of that at work. It's eventually going to turn out that Manning was, in some ways, worse than Aldrich Ames.

Man, there is a lot to respond to here. I really feel like not bothering, but I don't think that would be intellectually honest as I suppose it was me that opened this can of worms. Anyway, please understand that I won't be getting to it all.

"Bradley Manning has admitted nothing." I might be wrong, but I remember reading that he bragged about how easy it was to smuggle shit out by writing it onto a Lady Gaga CD.

"But Obama's military..." While President Obama is certainly the Commander in Chief and bears a great deal of responsibility for whatever it does, the military is the military. There isn't some kind of sea change that happens within the ranks as a new president takes office. That's just reality.

"So nice to meet another torture apologist in this country. There are so many of them." How have you gotten the impression that I'm a torture apologist?

"As we all know, Americans' lives are worth more than those of anyone else." As I am an American, I acknowledge this as a correct statement.

"He saw diplomatic cables that showed Hillary Clinton order U.S. diplomats to illegally spy on other diplomats"

That was from a leak that was apart from Bradley Manning. It came from someone in the State Department. Plus, and more importantly, there was nothing illegal about Secretary Clinton issuing such an order. Espionage on behalf of the United States is only illegal in other countries. It was an embarrassing disclosure and that disclosure definitely hurt our diplomatic efforts around the world, but there is nothing illegal or immoral about the order. The disclosure, though, was completely illegal and completely immoral.

I really question your sources about this Bradley Manning douche bag. Where are you getting the notion that he is being tortured and held without charges? I simply don't think it's true.

"Which is why you support shooting anonymous people who are not actually shooting at Americans, are not identified other than by behavior, on the word of "some general""

They're not anonymous and while they are not shooting at Americans with guns, they are planting roadside bombs -- which do a lot more damage. That is the 'behavior' that we are talking about. There is no trial necessary, because "some general", and everybody else in the command post, SEES THEM DOING IT! It's indisputable.

And, regarding the Japan nuke thing: The explosion that occurred yesterday appears to have been the result of a hydrogen buildup in the containment building. The explosion caused the release of some radioactive material that had been vented into the containment building as they were trying to relieve the water pressure in the reactor on Friday. However, it appears that the reactor's pressure vessel is still intact, so the primary containment for the radioactive material is still intact. And, contrary to some reports, this was not a "Chernobyl-like" explosion. This reactor is incapable of exploding the way the Chernobyl one did.

There are some aspects of what happened that I don't understand. The original failure of the cooling system was supposedly caused by loss of power and the failure of the backup power sources. However, I read this morning that they are pumping sea water through the reactor to try to cool it. If they have power to do that, why don't they have power to restart the primary cooling system? Did they lose the fresh water supply for the primary cooling? Or did they have some sort of control system failure that rendered all of the backup systems inoperable? There's lots we don't know right now. (And on general principle I do not trust mainstream news reports on this kind of thing.)

A bit more:

"Shooting people with drones. That's what you're endorsing. Just want to be clear at last about that."

Absolutely. Except in place of "people", put "enemies of the United States of America".

This way it reads, "Shooting the enemies of the United States of America with drones. That's what you're endorsing. Just want to be clear at last about that."

I'm glad you want to be clear. So do I. If I could be more clear, I would.

"If it's good for people who act a certain way in Afghanistan, then it's good for smugglers in northern Mexico. Right"

Firstly, if you mean people who "act a certain way" by killing Americans, creating chaos in order to establish an Islamic Caliphate and disrupt efforts of democracy, and bullying their countrymen into silence, fuck them. We're not talking about people with a certain fashion sense.

Secondly, no, drug smuggling does not rise to the level of death.

"Firstly, if you mean people who "act a certain way" by killing Americans, creating chaos in order to establish an Islamic Caliphate and disrupt efforts of democracy, and bullying their countrymen into silence, fuck them. We're not talking about people with a certain fashion sense."

Establish an Islamic Caliphate? For real?? Thank you -- I needed a laugh.

Right now, the people who are "killing Americans," "disrupting efforts of democracy," and "bullying their countrymen into silence" are representatives of our government, e.g., the president, the military, and agents of the DHS and TSA.

"Establish an Islamic Caliphate? For real?? Thank you -- I needed a laugh."

Well, I'm happy to have brightened your day -- you're welcome.

Although the typical dipshit, uneducated, Afghan doesn't realize it, that is the goal of Al Qaeda. Afghans seem happy to be their puppets. It really isn't their fault. They are really, really, ignorant. I don't know what the illiteracy figure is, but it's above 90% and it's shocking. I've talked to Marine officers who have rolled up on a village and the people there think they are Russian.

Could you please name the government representatives who are killing Americans, disrupting efforts of democracy, and bullying their countrymen into silence?

You've named the President and me (a member of the military) as one of these people. But I'd like to know who I'm colluding with.

Keep in mind that you have accused the President of the United States of murdering Americans. Please let us all know how this has come about. With information like this, you could be the next Bradley Manning! A hero!

"If they have power to do that, why don't they have power to restart the primary cooling system?"

Cousin Dave, my understanding is that the earthquake knocked out power to the primary cooling system. Backup diesel generators kicked in, but these were poorly situated on rather low ground, and got flooded by the tsunami. A secondary backup, using turbines driven by steam from the reactor to generate electricity, went into operation, but the batteries needed to control this system ran down. New diesel generators were delivered to the site yesterday, and these are now busy with sea water & boron. That hydrogen explosion seems to be a minor event compared to the cooling problems. The details of what's happening may only become clear in hindsight.

Poll Confirms America's Entitlement Culture...Even Among Tea Partiers

I really hate this world, sometimes...