ThinkFast: May 22, 2008
ThinkFast: May 22, 2008
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that “the military cannot automatically discharge people because they’re gay.” The court “did not strike down the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy” but reinstated a lawsuit from a “decorated flight nurse who sued the Air Force over her dismissal.”
On Wednesday, President Bush “found himself in opposition to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, a group that has generally supported him. The group’s national commander, George Lisicki, emerged from a meeting with the president expressing strong support” for the 21st Century GI Bill, which Bush has threatened to veto.
When Gen. David Petraeus and Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee today they will defend a pause in troop reductions in Iraq, saying that “the U.S. must be careful not to withdraw forces from Iraq too quickly because security gains could be lost.” Petraeus has been nominated to be chief of U.S. Central Command and Odierno has been nominated to replace Petraeus in Iraq.
Today, the New York Times’s Helene Cooper writes that the “Bush administration’s own policies appear to be at odds” with the President’s recent pronouncement that talking to enemies is “appeasement.” Many State Department officials “concede that the United States does not hew to one policy on engaging its enemies. ‘I’d rather be right than consistent,’ a senior Bush administration official said.”
Career FBI agent Bassem Youssef told Congress yesterday that “counter-terrorism agents and managers at FBI headquarters often lack basic knowledge about Middle Eastern culture, language and terrorists’ ideology.” “The FBI counter-terrorism division is ill-equipped to handle the terrorist threat we are facing,” Youssef told the House Judiciary Committee.
Mohammed Kamin, an Afghan detainee, “joined a growing detainee boycott of the war-crimes trials at the Guantanamo Bay.” Kamin was “dragged from his cell to his first pretrial hearing at Guantanamo Wednesday, then refused to participate, telling the judge he felt ‘helpless.’”
Department of Veterans Affairs officials yesterday said that they oppose much of Sen. Patty Murray’s (D-WA) bill to “improve care for female veterans even as the number of women seeking VA medical services is expected to double within the next five years.” Some of the objectionable provisions include special training on how to care for “female victims of military sexual trauma and post traumatic stress disorder.”
The Energy Information Administration reports that “U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels increased by 1.6 percent in 2007. … Factors that drove the emissions increase included … a higher carbon intensity of electricity supply.” Climate Progress notes that CO2 emissions would have grown faster under Bush if not for “two economic slowdowns, 9/11…and a rapidly growing trade deficit with China.”
And finally: At a hearing with EPA administrator Stephen Johnson this week, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) went over his allotted time while grilling Johnson. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) angrily accused Waxman of breaking the rules, but as chairman, Waxman “banged the gavel six times in Issa’s face.” Yesterday, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) called Waxman and complained about his “outrageous threats and intimidation.” Waxman, however, is laughing about “Boehner’s suggestion that he was a threatening force.” “Just look at me,” he said. “How can you not quake in my presence?”
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.
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Not Enough Done to Protect Biodiversity
The UN conference on biodiversity opened in the former German capital Bonn this week in the face of new evidence that many countries, particularly the industrialised ones, are not complying with their declared goal of “substantially reducing the loss of biological diversity.”
According to the study ‘2010 and beyond: Rising to the Biodiversity Challenge’ by the environmental organisation World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) presented in Bonn ahead of the UN conference, more than a quarter of all animal species have disappeared since 1970 as a consequence of human action. The index tracks a population of nearly 4,000 of 241 fish, 83 amphibian, 40 reptile, 811 bird and 302 mammal species. “Biodiversity underpins the health of the planet and has a direct impact on all our lives.”
“Put simply, reduced biodiversity means millions of people face a future where food supplies are more vulnerable to pests and disease and where water is in irregular or short supply,” he told IPS. “No one can escape the impact of biodiversity loss because reduced global diversity translates quite clearly into fewer new medicines, greater vulnerability to natural disasters and greater effects from global warming,” Leape said.
Furthermore, direct drivers of such loss, such as change of land use and climate change are expected to increase further. Heinrich said that multiple human economic activities, from fishing on an industrial scale to the demand for energy sources, deforestation, desertification, and the consequent greenhouse gas emissions that provoke global warming, continue to kill flora and fauna around the world.
In 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg endorsed the target of achieving by 2010 “a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional, and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on earth.”
That year EU countries agreed to a more ambitious target — to halt biodiversity loss by 2010. Neither objective will be reached, according to environmental groups.The UN defines biodiversity as “the variability among living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part.”
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/21/9111/
During the last 100 years, 75 percent of the food crop varieties we once grew are no longer cultivated. All countries need to get their objectives back on track quickly, European Countries are the worst off they have lost 35% of their biodiversity compared to our 27%.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:01 amIceland tops list of peaceful nations, U.S. 97th
Iceland is the world’s most peaceful nation while the United States is ranked among the bottom third, according to a study released on Tuesday.
The “Global Peace Index,” compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, ranked the United States 97th out of 140 countries according to how peaceful they were domestically and how they interacted with the outside world.
The United States slipped from 96th last year, but was still ahead of foe Iran which ranked 105th. It, however, lagged Belarus, Cuba, South Korea, Chile, Libya and others which were listed as more peaceful.
Commenting on the U.S. ranking, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said to realize a more peaceful and prosperous world, “Often times, you have to do difficult things and a lot of times, people don’t agree with them. They don’t like them.”
“A lot of times you fall down in these lists but at the end of the day it is in defense of democracy and the way of life we have enjoyed over the past several decades,” he added.
The Group of Eight major economic powers were a mixed bag. Japan ranked fifth, Canada 11th, Germany 14th, Italy 28th, France 36th and Britain 49th. Russia was near the bottom at 131st, the only one in the group below the United States.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Iceland_tops_list_of_peaceful_natio_05202008.html
Well with the invasion of Iraq, prison abuse, torture, and the dollar tanking, thank you George Bush for tarnishing our reputation even further. You can add this to your library.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:05 amUS opposes cluster bomb ban, backs ‘technological fixes’
The United States on Wednesday opposed a worldwide ban on cluster bombs, calling instead for “technological fixes” that would make them safer.
State Department expert Stephen Mull told reporters the United States is “deeply concerned” about the danger of such munitions, but said a ban like one proposed at a major conference in Dublin would be impractical.
“We think that it will be impossible to ban cluster munitions as many in the Oslo process would like to do, because these are weapons that have a certain military utility,” Mull said.
“So rather than ban them, we think that a much more effective way to go about this is through technological fixes that will make sure that these weapons are no longer viable once the conflict is over,” Mull said.
He did not explain how such a technological solution might work.
Read the rest at:
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_opposes_cluster_bomb_ban_backs_t_05212008.html
**A safer bomb? That has got to be one of the worst oxymoron I have ever heard — or simply moronic. Just what we need, another way to kill. Let’s see – starvation, depleted uranium, bunker busters…this is ridiculous. How about REAL ways to keep us safer?
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:07 amCheney: Quitting war on terror ‘act of betrayal, dishonor’
Vice President Dick Cheney told newly minted Coast Guard officers Wednesday that the war on terror would be won on their watch and dismissed fears that fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan would drag on indefinitely.
Cheney, sporting a 10-gallon hat, said the troop surge in Iraq “has succeeded brilliantly.” “The war on terror is a lengthy enterprise, but it does not have to go on forever,” he told more than 200 graduating cadets at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
“The only way to lose this fight is to quit. That would be irresponsible,” Cheney said. “More than that, quitting would be an act of betrayal and dishonor. And it’s not going to happen on our watch.”
Cheney said. “You’ll be there to provide security and to defend our American sovereignty and to enforce this nation’s laws against drugs and human smuggling.” The vice president’s visit was both cheered and jeered by demonstrators who arrived early outside the main gates.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Sporting_10gallon_hat_Cheney_tells_Coast_0521.html
This is one commencement worth missing; that might also be considered an act of betrayal and dishonor to Cheney. The 10-gallon hat was a little over the top for me.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:09 amThe FBI is busy recruiting ‘moles’ in Mpls / St. Paul in anticipation of mass protests during the Republican National Convention beginning Sept. 1st.
They’re trying to place people who ‘look like’ protesters in among the crowds. Other events have found these moles actually paid to incite or further agitate protesters.
It should be an interesting convention. If you’re near the Twin Cities Sept. 1st, join us in telling Republicans what America thinks of ‘The Change You Deserve’.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:09 amWhen it comes to the Cheney admin one can take the phrase “lack basic knowledge” and preface it with any department and follow it with any subject. Two exceptions – all departments know how to slip taxpayer monies into the pockets of fellow highwaymen; and Georgie knows how to fall off his bike, albeit not without landing on his face.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:11 amWhy should there be any special training for treating female military members for sexual trauma? We know that the women military and civilian workers are treated perfectly civily and there is no rape committed. The women can walk alone at any time at night in camp. We know that w wouldn’t have it any other way.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:14 amGovt Insider: Bush Authorized 9/11 Attacks
Keep in mind when reading this, that the man being interviewed is no two-bit internet conspiracy buff.
Stanley Hilton was a senior advisor to Sen Bob Dole (R) and has personally known Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz for decades. This courageous man has risked his professional reputation, and possibly his life, to get this information out to people.
snip
AJ: All right my friends, second hour, the anniversary of the globalist attack coming up. It’s an amazing individual we have on the line. Bob Dole’s former chief of staff, political scientist, a lawyer, he went to school with Rumsfeld and others, he wrote his thesis about how to turn America into a dictatorship using a fake Pearl Harbor attack. He’s suing the U.S. government for carrying out 9/11. He has hundreds of the victims’ families signing onto it – it’s a $7 billion lawsuit. And he is Stanley Hilton. I know that a lot of stations just joined us in Los Angeles and Rhode Island and Missouri and Florida and all over. Please sir, recap what you were just stating and then let’s get into the new evidence. And then we’ll get into why you are being harassed by the FBI, as other FBI people are being harassed who have been blowing the whistle on this. So, this is really getting serious. Stanley, tell us all about it.
Read the rest:
http://blacklistednews.com/view.asp?ID=6621
**It’s a long read but worth it. Presents some very interesting evidence.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:14 am‘I’d rather be right than consistent,’ a senior Bush administration official said.”
Too bad ya dumb putz, you’ve been nothing but CONSISTENTLY WRONG, never right, but damn consistent.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:14 am5-deferment Dickhead Cheney should hardly be lecturing anyone about irresponsiblity and betrayal.
That’s like Kenny-boy Lay delivering a sermon about ethical corporate behavior.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:14 amhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/21/clinton-says-shes-willing_n_102934.html
So, Hillary is threatening to take the fight to the convention. She is likening not seating MI and FL delegates to the Civil Rights Movement for gods sake. This woman has gone completely off the rails. The Super Delegates need to shut her down NOW!
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:16 amZimzsone; sounds like the FBI has resurrected the old COINTELPRO, complete with agent provocateurs.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:19 amDepartment of Veterans Affairs officials yesterday said that they oppose much of Sen. Patty Murray’s (D-WA) bill to “improve care for female veterans even as the number of women seeking VA medical services is expected to double within the next five years.” Some of the objectionable provisions include special training on how to care for “female victims of military sexual trauma and post traumatic stress disorder.”
Well, I hope that any woman who is considering joining the military reads this. Apparently the top brass in the military could care less about women and the very real possibility that they might be raped while in the service of our country.
These people are despicable. There is a special place in hell awaiting each and ever one of them.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:23 amBilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
So, Hillary is threatening to take the fight to the convention. She is likening not seating MI and FL delegates to the Civil Rights Movement for gods sake. This woman has gone completely off the rails. The Super Delegates need to shut her down NOW!
If Clinton really gave a damn about the voters in FL and MI, she had ample opportunity to raise all her objections last year, before any primaries were even held. All this concern about their “voices” is entirely about her illicit “wins” in both states. Disgusting.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:27 amDepartment of Veterans Affairs officials yesterday said that they oppose much of Sen. Patty Murray’s (D-WA) bill to “improve care for female veterans even as the number of women seeking VA medical services is expected to double within the next five years.” Some of the objectionable provisions include special training on how to care for “female victims of military sexual trauma and post traumatic stress disorder.”
The VA is opposed to improving care and special training for female veterans with post traumatic stress disorder. With 18 men a day committing suicide, your track record with the men is a dismal failure. The VA needs to get rid of the so-called professionals they currently have and get new ones for the men and the women veterans. It is the least they could do to correct this growing mental health problem.
How dare the VA be opposed to taking proper care of female veterans that have been traumatized by rape. If the military would take this issue more seriously and arrest these men, there would be a reduction in the number of rapes that occur. The military has absolutely no respect for the women that serve this country, and it would be a tremendous loss without them.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:28 amI agree entirely – enough is enough. She will sooner destroy the party, and/or worse – destroy the Democratic win in November because of her own stubbornness, pride and ambition. I think there are meetings in the coming days to begin to resolve this dilemma and I hope something productive comes from them. Let her have her primaries in PR, Montana and Wyoming, then shut her down!! The superdelegates must get off the fence and do the right thing.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:30 amIn roughly 20 months since Juan Leonardo Quintero killed Houston police officer Rodney Johnson, the case has become a signature battle cry locally against illegal immigration.
Typical Repuke-lican thinking – should be a “battle-cry” against the judge and jury if you wanted him dead, HMMM????
Mis-placed priorities are JOB NO. 1 for the GOP.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:37 am#10 Uncle Ho Says:
5-deferment Dickhead Cheney should hardly be lecturing anyone about irresponsiblity and betrayal.
That’s like Kenny-boy Lay delivering a sermon about ethical corporate behavior.
Truer words could not be spoken on that topic.. When Dick Cheney becomes the moral barometer for this country we are all in trouble….
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:39 am#11:
“Taking her battle to the convention would fly in the face of an increasing number of party leaders”
and their little dog, Totto, too!
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:41 amGay people make just as good a soldier as straight people. This is a good ruling.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:46 amMcCain is spelling out the daily talking points and encouraging his supporters to trot them out at various blogs. Red State is a “A leading online political community”, while Daily Kos is “A liberal online community, focusing on national political issues from the liberal point-of-view”. Hmmmm. I wonder if they’re LIBERAL.
Now we know where to look for our trolls’ daily talking points.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:48 amMarie, Bilbo, et al.: don’t worry; Billary’s moment in the sun is about to be over. She’ll likely win Puerto Rico, but then will get her butt kicked in both SD and Montana within the next 2 weeks. And then it won’t matter how or if the FL and MI delegates are apportioned, since Obama will be over the top in pledged delegates and committed superdelegates by then.
So yes, while she continues to tilt at windmills, nearly everyone (except those drinking the Billary koolaid) sees it for what it is — a moribund campaign trying to do two things: (1) stay in the race long enough to be able to raise the necessary funds to pay back her and Bill’s massive loans to the campaign; and (2) put pressure on Obama to name her as his VP.
Within two weeks, the topic of conversation will shift to that second one — and that’ll be the REST of the story for the next couple of months…
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:49 am#21 – backup Says:
————————————————————-
“Gay people make just as good a soldier as straight people. This is a good ruling.”
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:46 am
I agree whole-heartedly! The arguments against gay people serving openly are the same arguments that were used to support racial descrimination in the military, and they were proven to be just as wrong-headed as is the ban on openly gay people serving in the military.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:49 amBnF: are you calling Billary a WITCH? Or something that rhymes with that?
Oh, but there’s that elite, misogynist, sexism rising yet again…
/snark
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:51 amOn Wednesday, President Bush “found himself in opposition to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, a group that has generally supported him. The group’s national commander, George Lisicki, emerged from a meeting with the president expressing strong support” for the 21st Century GI Bill, which Bush has threatened to veto.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:51 amThat’s right folks. Fight for Bush and Cheney’s Illegal Oil Wars then we’ll spit you out as soon as you can say “5 Deferment Cheney”…
How much more convenient will the demogogary get for progressives. Laughable.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:51 amThis is a good ruling.
These opinions of yours, frankly, nobody gives a flying fcuk, mmmkay?
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:52 am#22 – gummitch Says:
————————————————————-
“Now we know where to look for our trolls’ daily talking points.”
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:48 am
That’s just too funny! It gives progressives the opportunity to counter their talking points in advance of them being liberally used on progressive blogs!
(I thought it was amusing to use ‘liberal’ to accurately describe their tactics. . . . .)
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:52 am“I will consult with Floridians and the voters in Michigan because it’s really their voices that are being ignored and their votes that are being discounted, and I’ll support whatever the elected officials and the voters in those two states want to do.”
LOL But she won’t do what the majority of the rest of the states voters want. Hilliary, we know you only give a hoot because without all of the delegates from Fla. and Mich. you LOOSE!
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:53 ambackup Says:
How much more convenient will the demogogary get for progressives. Laughable.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:51 am
_______
You don’t think economic slowdowns affect the rate of carbon emissions?
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:57 ambackup says;
Gay people make just a good a soldier as straight people.
______________________________________________________________
Are you speaking from personal experience?
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:00 ambackup Says:
How much more convenient will the demogogary get for progressives.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:51 am
Not quite as ‘convenient’ as the demogogary currently is for the regressives. Neo-con regressives have oh-so much more experience at it than do progressives.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:04 amDieNowForPeace Says:
This is a good ruling. [- backup]
These opinions of yours, frankly, nobody gives a flying fcuk, mmmkay?
i don’t understand the hostility…
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:08 amand i DO care about that opinion…
we need all the help we can get – why alienate?
If you ever wonder how climate change skeptics get the impression that the issue is being hijacked by socialists, take another look at this charge:
CO2 emissions would have been worse if it weren’t for economic slowdowns. Translation: Strong economy = more CO2 emissions. Strong economy = global warming.
When Obama insists that our economy is weak and that we need to make it stronger, is he really advocating increasing our CO2 output?
Additionally, when progressives lament the trade imbalance with China on one hand and insist that we should agree to Kyoto (that exempts China, while the U.S. is required to make costly production changes) seems inconsistent; to be kind.
How many diffent sides of these issues would you like?
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:09 amRice defends Bush policy on Iran as ’successful’
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday defended as “successful” the US administration’s policy on Iran after Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama criticized its approach.
Though she tried to avoid commenting on the presidential campaign, Rice told reporters that the United States and other powers agreed on what she considers a common, effective approach to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“I will note that the Iranian problem is not just America’s problem, it is an international issue, and it is an issue on which the international community is united in confronting Iran with choices before it,” Rice said.
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Rice_defends_Bush_policy_on_Iran_as_05212008.html
Obama’s comments are right on target about their refusals to high-level negotiations with Tehran. This is what he had to say.
“Thanks to George Bush’s policy, Iran is the greatest threat to the United States and Israel and the Middle East for a generation. John McCain wants to double down on that failed policy,” Obama said.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:09 amkaty. Thanks for saying that. But, I think what happens is that I disagree with many issues here and coincidentally with many of the posters.
I just happen to support gay rights and equal rights for women and minorities.
Although I understand that the hositility comes over from other issues, I wish that on the issues of tolerance, bigotry, and equality; progressives might understand that I am on the same page.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:13 amClinton Still in the Game, but Wants Rules Changed
She Wants DNC to Reverse Decision on Counting Delegates from Mich., Fla.
[...]
Critics contend that Clinton’s push to get the committee to overturn its decision is an attempt to change the rules midgame and a last-ditch effort to save her campaign in the face of mounting support for Obama.
“Now is not the time for our party to have a dialogue about which states should count,” she said in Florida.
“We cannot move forward as a united party if some members are left out. I want to be sure all 50 states are counted and your delegates are seated at our convention.” she said. “Join me in making sure your voices are raised and heard.”
Clinton did not always feel so strongly. In the early days of the campaign she said Michigan would not count.
“It’s clear,” Clinton told New Hampshire Public Radio in the fall, “this election [Michigan is] having is not going to count for anything. I personally did not think it made any difference whether or not my name was on the ballot.”
[...]
Obama leads in the popular vote if Michigan and Florida are excluded from the count. He also leads in popular votes if Florida is added.
Clinton, however, has more popular votes if all the states, including Michigan and Florida, are included in the total.
But Obama did not campaign in Michigan and his name was removed from the ballot before the race.
The Democratic Party would not be convening a meeting to resolve the issue if not for Clinton, said ABC News consultant Matthew Dowd.
“The DNC [Democratic National Committee] is considering changing the rules, and they wouldn’t be changing the rules unless she wanted them to meet and discuss it. She obviously wants to see the rules changed. Her staff should have set up a campaign that worked within the confines of the current rules,” he said. “It is as if Barack Obama is on the 99-yard line and in the final moments of the game Clinton wants the football field extended from 100 to 120 yards.”
Many of Clinton’s advisers are former party insiders, including Terry McAuliffe, her campaign’s chairman and former party chairman, who helped make the rule in the first place.
“What is amazing to me is that she has got a camp filled with DNC operatives. These are the people who essentially created the rules,” Dowd said. “She has been in the game a long time. It’s not as if she’s new to this and didn’t know better. Her campaign is run by the insiders who have been running the party for the past 16 years.”
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:16 am[...]
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=4905785&page=1
Uncle Ho. I’m not gay, but maybe I’ve never been asked the right way.
Are you asking?
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:16 amThere’s nothing like starting the day with a steaming bowl of World Nut Daily Flakes (now with TWO scoops of mystery meat! ) courtesy of boys2men.
The Way Things Break http://thingsbreak.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/oregon-petition-redux/
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:22 amhas done a little bit of research on the “Oregon Petition” and from the very start has discovered some super-fun facts. For instance the first five signatories listed (alpabetically) include a biologist, an oncologist, a vet, a dead telecom guy and someone apparently with no scientific qualifications at all.
The last five include a mechanical engineer, a materials scinetist, a chemical and aerospace engineer working for an energy company, and a guy who makes sure fiber-board is sufficiently fiber-y and board-y.
backup; I’m only asking if you have any personal experience about gays being good soldiers. Nothing more.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:32 amChimpy the boy-king is speaking today at Ft. Bragg — I expect that they have cleaned up the barracks in recent weeks from the deplorable conditions.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:45 amThis is the monkey’s favorite appearance – he likes to play pretend “soldier” with real life military.
(1) stay in the race long enough to be able to raise the necessary funds to pay back her and Bill’s massive loans to the campaign; and (2) put pressure on Obama to name her as his VP.
1. In the meantime she is spending herself more and more into debt.
2. She has killed any chance Obama will put her on the ticket with this one.
The woman has become delusional.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:56 amUncle Ho. I’m just joking with you. The only concern I’ve ever had with gays in the military was with privacy issues.
When I went thru my initial training in the Air Force, everybody showered in one big shower. I’m sure there where gay guys there, but if they were ‘out’ it would have caused some privacy issues or obvious sensitivities (in the shower room).
I’ve heard that now, the facilities are more private. That would allay my only opposition.
I’m sure you would agree that someones sexual preference has no bearing on how good a soldier they are.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:56 am#44 – backup Says:
————————————————————
“When I went thru my initial training in the Air Force, everybody showered in one big shower. I’m sure there where gay guys there, but if they were ‘out’ it would have caused some privacy issues or obvious sensitivities (in the shower room).”
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:56 am
In my Army basic, we had one communal shower facility. I was amused to see it was the other straight guys who were checking other guys out! Nobody knew I was gay, but they were making me unconfortable with their none-too covert glances.
I wonder if other gay men had the same experience in Army basic as did I?
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:01 amWhile I was navy, I’m sure there was some gays in too, but did not know who. They did not say, and I did not ask.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:16 amUncle Ho. I’m not gay, but maybe I’ve never been asked the right way.
Are you asking?
Well I’m certainly not gay, I just like the way it feels.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:16 amWhere’s the Reverend Hagee thread. You know, the one where he says God sent Hitler to hunt the Jews?
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:32 amivelongandprosper Says:
LOL But she won’t do what the majority of the rest of the states voters want. Hilliary, we know you only give a hoot because without all of the delegates from Fla. and Mich. you LOOSE!
Actually, Hillary could care less about the delegates being seated. She just wants the two states to be recognized so that she can claim the popular vote from both states without giving Obama any popular vote from MI. That is the only scenario under which she can claim she is winning the popular vote.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:37 amDemocrat Soldier. I didn’t have a problem with it, but I try to think of it like this:
How comfortable would women be in military training, if they had to shower with men.
It’s one thing to be in the situation and not know it or for it not to be condoned. But, when people are ‘out’ and condoned (which, I support) it takes on a different
characteristic.
The obvious answer for me, is for full acceptance of the gay community in the military, but private facilities.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:50 amIf you ever wonder how climate change skeptics get the impression that the issue is being hijacked by socialists, take another look at this charge:
CO2 emissions would have been worse if it weren’t for economic slowdowns. Translation: Strong economy = more CO2 emissions. Strong economy = global warming.
When Obama insists that our economy is weak and that we need to make it stronger, is he really advocating increasing our CO2 output?
Additionally, when progressives lament the trade imbalance with China on one hand and insist that we should agree to Kyoto (that exempts China, while the U.S. is required to make costly production changes) seems inconsistent.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:29 pmRomney downplays veep talk, launches PAC
Boston Globe – 1 hour ago
Mitt Romney is on many a short list for possible Republican vice presidential nominee. And he is among the possible picks who will attend a gathering this weekend at John McCain’s Arizona ranch.
a romney political action committee…
scary…
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:32 pmObama’s staff is secretly beginning to gather dossiers on potential running mates. I think Hillary has f_cked herself out of this one. Ignoring that the Repugs will have a daily picnic in skewering her, in bringing up gossip and rumors about her and Bill, in forcing her to defend herself for just being alive and standing — She and her supporters will make a lot of noise and exert a lot of pressure on Obama to offer the position to her, knowing full well that this cannot happen. He can’t be the candidate for change with a running mate who wants to go back a decade. He can’t carry us into the “future” with older baggage. I feel very free to say this as I would be considered in Hillary’s demographic league, but she has screwed her chances with this voter.
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:30 pmObama may look seriously at a female running mate, however, which will spite some Clinton’s supporters, but will also bring in a few of them. He is said to favor Napolitano and Sibelius – or he may decide on Richardson for the gravitas he brings and the Hispanic voters.
My apologies if someone has linked to this already, but here’s an article from the Roswell (GA) Beacon.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that there are people out there that think this way.
White Supremacy Groups Threatened by Obama Candidacy
This is not the conversation one might expect in Barack Obama’s colorblind America. Especially on the outskirts of North Fulton County.
“Daddy, why does his dream make you so mad?” asks Kimberly, nine, as she and a hulking man in camouflage step over fallen pine logs on a raw, damp afternoon in western Forsyth County, about 30 minutes north of Milton.
“Sweetie, it’s science fiction, like the comic books you read,” Thomas Stevenson replies in a gentle, fatherly tone.
Steadying Kimberly’s shoulders as they approach another slab of deadwood, Stevenson notices the bewilderment in his fourth grader’s gaze, so he tries again to put her curiosity to rest. “The dream is that everybody is the same,” he says. “In other words, if you get a potato, I get a potato. If I get a loaf of bread, you get a loaf of bread. If you live in a mansion, then I should too.”
Later that Saturday, coming in from the drizzle and settling in at the computer, the 38-year-old carpenter clicks on several white supremacist sites to catch up on the chatter, particularly as it pertains to U.S. Senator Barack Obama.
“Some idiot out there’s going to put a bullet in that silver-tongued devil,” he says, “and then there’ll be a race war. There are some in our movement who are preparing for war, [even] praying for it.”
(Full article linked above)
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:39 pm