Just because...

Yo...

So I was perusing one of my more favorite blogs on the internet the other day, that being Drunkcyclist.com and I saw a posting up there about how the main man Jonny is in law school, doesn't have much time to write on there any longer, and things like that. Well, I volunteered my services, and am now a guest writer on that page. I'll be listed as "giantcu92" so drop on by, and check it out. Whatever I put up on there, I'll put up on here as well.

Over and out, and oh, head on over there to check out my post from yesterday. It's morning, and I don't feel like cutting and pasting.

Who's the obstructionist again???

Think back if you will a couple or few years ago. There was a battle going on within the Senate over some of George W. Bush's judicial nominees. It seems that even though the Senate had confirmed a record number of judicial nominees for Bush since he took office in January of 2001, there were just a few more that he wanted in judgeships that were so out of what with mainstream America, the democrats in the Senate finally found what was left of their spine and put the smack down on the last handful of nominees. I think there were maybe between 5-10. This sent their republican comrades in the Senate into a tither. There was talk of a so called "nuclear option" which would change the rules of the Senate so that the republicans could basically ignore the filibuster that the democrats were throwing up, and force through Bush's nominees. The democrats were called obstructionists by the republicans, and Bush was yipping and yelling about this whole business as if the fate of the world depended on it. He was calling for the democrats to allow for an "up or down" vote on his nominees, which he knew would mean that they would be confirmed because the republicans still controlled the majority in the Senate. 

Anyway, with that little background information, take a look at this link here. Turns out, basically the same republicans that were yelling and screaming about the democrats being obstructionists have indeed become the masters of it themselves. Since they have filibustered the most legislation EVER in the history of the United States Congress, I think a round of applause is due to them, since now they have become the largest hypocrites (yet again) in the known Universe. The thing about it though, is not that they're using the filibuster. No, that is their right to do that in the Senate, that is how the minority party can control, and or how the minority party can have some influence on the proceedings. I'm not mad at them for that, or for how many times they use it. What really pisses me off, and takes the wind out of my sails is HOW this is portrayed, a majority of the time, within the media itself. Think back, democrats were obstructionists, and not doing the will of the people who had elected the President, and they were not confirming his nominees and were holding up some pieces of legislation. Look at the stories about Congress now, and stalled legislation. All of a sudden, it's not that the republicans are the all time leaders of obstructionism and use of the filibuster. Oh no. The stories read along the lines of how the democrats can't get anything done in Congress, and how the democrats are not doing what they promised when they took office and the majority back in 2006. Once again, the media are ignoring, and or are not reporting completely on WHY the democrats can't get anything done. That's what really makes me mad about this whole thing. It's not that republicans are hypocrites, we know that a lot of them are, and that is clearly shown a lot these days. And it's not that they're using this tool of the filibuster. It's how the media is reporting it that makes me really mad.

What Harry Reid should do, instead of just letting the republicans say, "You can't get cloture on this because you can't get 60 votes, so let's just drop it." What Harry Reid should do is actually make the republicans do a proper filibuster. Meaning long nights on the floor. Cots, long books, and things like that. I think if they actually made them do what they're supposed to do with a filibuster, then there is a good chance that they wouldn't do as many of them as they have been doing, and would show the people of the United States who is actually holding up what in Congress, and specifically the Senate. Of course, for some reason the democrats won't do this, and won't go running to the press talking about republican obstructionism like they should be, and for some reason, they just don't do it. I don't know why. If the shoe was still on the other foot, you can be sure that the republicans would be no holds barred, and would be blabbing about this all over the place. Harry Reid and the rest of the Senate democrats don't owe their republican friends in the Senate anything, they should toss them under the bus as soon as possible. 

The other thing that they need to do is when Bush threatens to veto something that they actually can get passed in the Senate and in the House, then they need to keep sending that same bill for him to sign, and make HIM the bad guy. Don't give in to that 20%-er. I mean, his ratings are so low, why do they keep giving into that guy? I don't get it. They send up a funding bill with timelines for troop withdrawal from Iraq, Bush complains that he wants a "clean" bill and won't sign anything with timelines attached to it, he vetoes, the democrats tuck tail, give him what he wants, and we're still in the same spot. If they kept sending him funding bills that he keeps vetoing, then it is going to be Bush's fault that the troops aren't funded properly, not the Congress'. My friends the democrats in the Senate and the House need to start being a little more hard core, and a little more venomous towards their counterparts, because again, it wasn't so long ago that republicans were accusing democrats of supporting terrorists, and "emboldening" terrorists, because they were speaking out against some of the things that Bush was doing. Take off the gloves girls and boys, and start punching. We're waiting for it, and we're tired of waiting for you to stand up to Bush.

You have got to see this movie...

So seriously. I watched this movie this evening, and this stuff is seriously messed up. It was called Jesus Camp, and it is seriously freaky deaky shit. It makes me think that indeed, an entire generation of kids have been brainwashed by Christian Evangelicals. You know the left behinders that we see around the country. They are also looking to install a Christian theocracy within the United States, you know, take back the country for God, whatever that means. This film for me reinforces a few things, and they are as follows:

1. I never want to live in Kansas, Missouri, or North Dakota.
2. Ted Haggard was really super high in his scenes in the movie.
3. These kids are entirely brainwashed.
4. These kids are indoctrinated, and not educated.
5. I know now why these fundamentalists are so scary.

The best thing about this whole mess to me though, is that with the changing political scene, and with George W. Bush selling out the people who got him elected (the second time) there is a good chance that a lot of these evangelicals will stay home during the next Presidential election. Why? Let's assume that Rudy gets the nomination for the republican party. Not an unlikely scenario. Immediately, he is running headlong into a bunch of items that the Christian right isn't going to vote for. Namely, he's pro-choice, and he's had what? 6 or 7 different wives now? OK, probably not that many wives, but he's run through quite a few, and he is estranged from some of his children. The evangelicals aren't going to vote for him, which is good. And in listening to a story on NPR this evening, and with the passing of Falwell this week (who is presumably burning in Hell right now if there even is a Hell), there is a younger group of Christian evangelicals who are actually looking at other issues aside from abortion, and gay marriage. There are groups of them now that are looking at other actual real issues that should have been important to Christians all along. Things like the environment and how they should be good stewards of the planet that they live on, as well as things like battling poverty and actually taking care of people. Or as one person who was being interviewed put it, they are starting to get more involved for things that they're for, as opposed to things that they're against, which makes me smile a little bit. Mostly because it does appear that with Georgie old boy selling them all out to win just one election, he has broken the stranglehold that the evangelicals have held on the republican party for a long time. And with Bush screwing everything else up, and his approval ratings going lower, and lower, and lower, there is a really good chance that a democrat, whoever it may be, will take the White House in 2008, even with the republicans playing their dirty little games that they will undoubtedly play once again. But I do believe that most of the American people can now see past this, or at least I hope that they can, although there are still strongholds of people who will believe anything Limbaugh, Savage, Boortz, Hannity, and or O'Reilly will tell them (most of that stuff they spew is a lot of misinformation and lies of course, if you're really listening, which most people don't).

There is one other thing that is bothering me today. It is this whole appointment of a war Tsar thing. Umm, excuse me if I'm wrong here, but don't we have one of these already? Namely someone named the Commander in Chief. You know, the President, the dumb ass who got us into this mess in the first place? Jeesh. Is this another sign of how checked out Bush is from actually doing his job? I think that it might be indeed. Now I'm not saying that Bush doesn't have other things to do in his job, aside from running this "war" (I put it in quotes because we're technically not at war per se, as there has been no official declaration of such a thing). He does. But why do we need a war Czar to oversee this fiasco? Don't we have a Secretary of Defense? A SECNAV? A Secretary of the Army? And so on? I mean, we have a whole defense department with which to run this "war" with, but he has to expand the government again, and appoint someone to oversee the entire deal? What a maroon. What an ignoranamoose. And this guy is the leader of the free world and he is abdicating his responsibility to the country and the Constitution. What a shmuck.

Swimming? In March???

I went swimming this past weekend. Yeah, you heard me right, this past weekend I went swimming. No, it wasn't in an indoor warm pool. Yes, it was in an outdoor pool at a friend of mine's apartment complex. Yes, we were drunk. Yes, it was March 24th when we entered the chilly waters of this pool. Yes, it was fun. I, being a sort of warm blooded type of person decided that I needed to be first into the pool, at which point in time I lied to everyone else and said that the water wasn't that bad. Shrieking and yelling ensued after the rest of the tribe jumped in. It was freakin' cold in there, but alas, I had never been swimming before in March, at least not outside that is. Well, unless you count the time I went whitewater rafting in Maine in early March (big water release) and there was still much snow on the banks of the river, along with big chunks of ice floating down the river beside us. Luckily, at that time, we got to wear dry suits provided to us through the rafting company, but it was still cold as balls out there. Especially since, remember, I said it was a big water release from the dam, and well, when there is big water, you get plenty wet. Still the best ride I've ever had down the West Branch of the Penobscot though. So, in a drunken state (well, I was more buzzed really nicely as opposed to drunk) I jumped into the swimming pool this weekend. This bodes well for the rest of the summer though, as the pool wasn't that bad, and they have a large grill sitting poolside. I can see summer nights grilling and swimming over there, well, if I get invited that is. I would hope that I would, as I can always bring the beer. I'll have to make sure to NOT swim immediately after eating, as I might get a cramp and not be able to make it out of the 5 foot deep pool alive. Now, if only they had a hot tub over there as well, now that would be something. I know, not asking for too much am I?

This weekend also represented the first really consistently warm weekend coming into the Spring. Well, actually, it was hot on Saturday and Sunday. Also in accordance with the first really warm weekend, the pink arm warmers made an appearance after the ride on Saturday afternoon. For those of you who are not in "the know", the pink arm warmers refer to the bare arms after they have been exposed to the sun for a long period of time, for the first time in the year, resulting in a semi sun burn that is the same size and length of a regular pair of arm warmers that one would wear when it is cold outside whilst riding the bike. This was just a long explanation of saying that I got a little bit of a sunburn this weekend. It actually wasn't too bad, and today, it has abated already. Yes, I did wear sunscreen on Sunday when I went out riding (I actually forgot on Saturday), and came back much better off after the Sunday ride. This also means that the infamous biker tan line is coming back into effect, full effect, as it never really went away, and actually doesn't go away. It's been a good year and a half now since I stopped riding on a very consistent basis, and the dark line, it's still there on the legs and the arms. The tan line that suffers the most is the sock line near the ankle, that one tends to blend in over time. This one is coming back in dark and distinct as well. Maybe I'll have to get some tan line pictures and get them on here in the near future. Got to work on it some more before posting though. I'm not like certain people who I know, who won't be named, who fake their cycling tan lines in order to get more cred from the cycling peeps. Yeah, it's true, I do know people who go to a tanning salon, or have in the past, who wear their cycling gear into the tanning booth in order to gain the appropriate cycling tan lines. You know who you are out there, so don't deny it.

This past weekend riding though, for the first time in a relatively long time, I felt OK on the bike. The legs were still pretty tired by the time I got home yesterday afternoon, but they're coming around really. I am thinking about another 3-4 weeks of consistent riding, and I'll start to really come around and find some fitness again. This riding, plus starting to do interval work in another month or so, should set me up for a good fitness base for the middle of this summer, when I can start racing my bike again. I'm torn at this time though whether to cat down to a 3 again, or stay racing as a category 2. I think if I had been able to upgrade to a category 1, I would stay there, because the chances of me making it back to that level (if I actually HAD made it to that level) would be slim and none, and I'd like to keep that category, but being a cat 2, is not that big of a deal. I could always drop a category, and IF I'm riding OK towards the end of the season, I should gain enough points to cat back up, or maybe the local official will let me, as I had been there once before. The straight poop though is that cat 3 racing is plenty fast, most of the time, it's just that the race lengths are much shorter. I personally don't have enough time to train properly or intensely to be a higher level racer, and my genetics don't help me on that end either. If I had the time to train, it might be a different story, or if I had a good genetic base from which to work, it might be different as well, but alas, I don't have either of those, so most likely back to cat 3 racing I'll go. And I'll probably get dropped there as well, so no big deal. I do remember though that the best times I had racing bikes was when I was a cat 3 racer, even when I was getting dropped. That might have had more to do with the guys I was racing with, rather than the racing itself, but I do remember those days fondly. And there were a number of races where I did quite well. We'll see…

This time of year in North Carolina, best time of the year ever. The days are longer, the temperatures are more than tolerable, everything is blooming out there, and it's got that good smell of Spring in the air. It's good stuff really. And since we don't get hardly any snow at all down here, there is no "mud" season, as those of you in the Northeast corner of the country know. Mud season is essentially just that, mud. All of the snow melts, and then the ground melts, and what do you have? Mud, and lots of it. It doesn't go away until like, June or so most of the time as far as I can recall. I remember one especially bad year when I was mountain biking a lot. I think I went through 2 sets of wheels, and about 10 sets of brake pads from the time span going from March to July. That's a lot of gear that this mud chewed through. Not to mention everything just being dirty all of the time. And of course you get mud all through wherever it is you're living, no matter how careful you are. It just invades and creeps its way into, well, everything. NO mud season in North Carolina, at least not in Durham.

No political stuff today, as there is just too much of that going on right now to even really comment about. Except for the attorney general, and the way he messed up, bad. Hey, look, Alberto, if you're going to fire some US Attorneys, don't lie about why you fired them in the first place. If you hadn't lied, there wouldn't be this shitstorm brewing all over the place, and it wouldn't even be a story, and there would be no investigations. But, apparently, Gonzales forgot that the democrats control Congress now, and are able to actually complete their oversight duties of the executive branch of the US government unlike the old majority (the republicans). If Gonzales had just come out and said that they fired these 8 prosecutors because they weren't pursuing what the current administration thought was important, there would have been some outcry, but as the law actually states, these people serve at the pleasure of the President. But instead, they said it was for performance issues, when none of them were actually performing badly. And then Gonzales said he wasn't aware of these decisions that were being made of who to fire and when. But, there is a pesky little detail of different meetings that Gonzales had with his staff concerning these firings. And then there was the White House saying that they weren't involved really with any of this (even though DOJ falls under the White House), but turns out, they were involved, deeply involved. Why did they need to lie about this? Like the Scooter Libby perjury case, it's not what actually happened that is the problem, it's what they did to cover it up, and in this case, lie about it. I'd be extremely surprised if Gonzales lasts the rest of this week and does not resign. It's funny for a man (Bush) who said that he was going to bring honor and trust back to the White House, and the executive branch in general, they are doing just the opposite of that, and have been since they entered office in January of 2001. Lots of lying, lots of secrecy never before seen, walking over the Constitution, suspending habeus corpus, and things like that. Yep, doin' a heck of a job there Bushie. Heck of a job. It has gotten to the point now, that whenever someone from the Bush administration speaks, I believe whatever it is that they are saying, to be a lie. They can't help themselves.

Thanks go out to...

Believe it or not, I've got to actually (I can't believe I'm going to do this) the Bush Administration, and the formerly Republican lead Congress of the United States of America. Those of you that know me, and or have frequented this page before, or maybe you've mistakenly clicked over to it in the past, know that I do really loathe George W. Bush as a President. To sum it up, he might not be the worst President of all time, but he probably will be the worst President in my lifetime. I mean, who would have thought I would long for the days of Ronald Regan and George H. W. Bush? I didn't think that would happen on my watch, but alas, here we are. Anyway, back to the thanking part of things.

If there is one thing that Bush as done right in his disastrous 2 terms, it's that he pushed back the start of Daylight Saving Time to this weekend. Now we get that extra hour of daylight the second week of March instead of the first weekend of April, which in my opinion is a kick ass decision right there. I guess this was part of an energy bill that passed through Congress awhile back, and W signed it into law, and here we are. March 11th, and the sun will now be up until 7:30 or so, at least around here. I know that up North in the great cold State of Maine, my Dad is cherishing the extra hour of sunlight. For years when I was a kid, and or at college and living at home at least part of the time, immediately after December 21st or 22nd (whichever one was the shortest day of the year in Maine) he would start tracking the increase in the days almost on a daily basis. And he would tell us about them as he tracked them, so I knew, just knew that he was excited for extra daylight. Now, does this really matter in Maine where they are not only under a blanket of snow, but more like a wall of snow, yeah, it probably does. As having spent a majority of my lifetime in Maine, I can say that in the winter months, it gets dreary when you wake up, it's dark. Drive to work, it's dark. Get to work, it's pretty dark until well after 8AM. Leave work at 4 or 4:30 in the afternoon, yeah, it's still dark out there. It stinks, it drags a man down, but hey, that's what we get for living in the chilly climes of the Northern parts of the country. But now, we have an extra hour of daylight, and in NC where the weather has been getting nicer and nicer over the last few weeks, this means more riding after work for me. Which is something I've promised myself not to take lightly this year. Meaning, don't waste the daylight hours. Get home, change those clothes, get out on the bike. I also have this sort of crazy plan to start riding into work a couple of days per week when the weather warms up more. Why is this crazy? Well, it's a 35 mile ride up, and a 35 mile ride back down in the afternoon, so a 70 mile training day. Which sound nice, if it's a weekend. Could be tough doing that, so we'll see how that all shakes out here in the near future. I would like to do it, because it would give me some crazy hours for training, and I've got to go there, and come home anyway, I might as well get some benefits from doing it, and I think I would arrive at work, a little tired, but feeling better for it. You know, endorphines, feeling good, things like that.

But yeah, thanks Bushie, you've actually done something right for a change. It's much appreciated by the cyclists that I know and speak to.

In response to Mr./Mrs. Anonymous...

Anonymous said...
If you really hate america so much why don't you just leave! Russia's middle class and black market are thriving, Canada's broken health care system is improving the quality of life, and the human rights of our chinese friends is a shining beacon on the hill. But you won't because America is still the best country in the world.

Iraq is the central front in the war on terror, leaving now would could destroy us, and the terrorist would win. Come up with a plan besides cut and run or shut up. if you don't understand that freedom isn't free than america is no place for you or you're opinions. You shouldn't even be allowed to speak.

See the above comment that I had from my last post (you know, the one before this one). This one of course has been sticking in my craw for the most reason because it is every single republican talking point about people who don't like the war, or this current administration, that has been going around since, oh, 2001 or later. I feel like I need to speak to this comment mostly because it is wrong, and the person who wrote it, is wrong.

#1: I don't hate America. I hate George W. Bush, and I hope for him to be gone from the White House as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there is this little document standing in the way of him leaving right now, and it's called the Constitution which says that the President shall have a maximum of 2 four year terms as President, unless they are impeached (I could only hope), or said President resigns (not going to happen mostly because he's a stubborn arse). I don't hate America. I actually quite enjoy living here. Although I can't compare it with anywhere else because this is the only place that I live. I hope to someday move to another country to experience different cultures, different people, and to expand my world view, but I do believe I'll always remain living in America, because it is indeed the best country in the world, I think, and many others think as well. So myself and the unknown commenter can agree at least on this one point, that indeed, the US of A is the best country in the world. Although I highly doubt that Mr. or Mrs. Unknown has lived anywhere aside from their parents' basement, maybe my friendly commenter should move around somewhere else as well, and maybe get a better grasp of what might be happening outside of the US, and indeed see for himself whether or not this IS the best country in the world.

Russia, not a place I'd like to live ever.

Canada, I would live there. Indeed, their "broken" health care system does indeed work, for the mere fact that ALL Canadians have health care coverage regardless of creed, wealth levels, or place in society. What's so bad about that? I'm sure it's not perfect, but at least when someone is sick, they can go and have it taken care of, unlike the US, where there are millions of people (mostly lover socio-economic class) that don't have health care, and can't afford health care. Oh, and every other democratic country in the world has a single payer health care system, in other words, socialized medicine, and gasp! Their economic systems and health care has not collapsed and been doomed. There is no reason, none at all, if America is indeed the greatest country in the world as you espouse, that we shouldn't have every single person in this country covered by an all encompassing health care system. Are we or are we not the last remaining world superpower? And we can't get everyone health care? Now that's just sad. Take the $500+ billion we have dumped down the drain in Iraq, and that would have fixed the health care system, and other innumerable issues facing the US, but I digress. I still like living here. Just because there are things that need to be corrected, and fixed, doesn't mean I hate America. It means I want to make it a better place for everyone (in my opinion and views), and if I leave the country, what kind of American would I be? Not wanting to stay around and debate issues, and try to fix things that I think are broken.

We the United States have also had some black marks placed onto our record as far as human rights go in the past few years. Extraordinary rendition anyone? Taking people to countries that will torture them because we won't do that on our own soil? That's pretty freakin' bad. Gitmo? Anyone? Stashing people away, saying that they're "bad" people with little or no proof at all? When do those people get trials? When do they get justice? Will they ever see a lawyer? And we're trying to be the bringer of light? The shining beacon? Mr. Bush, and his cadre of criminals have dimmed the light, and turned off the beacon since 2001.

How would leaving Iraq now "destroy us" as you so put it before? Is there some huge Muslim army waiting to invade the US? Why is Iraq the central front on the war on terror? As has been reported, investigated and debunked many times since our invasion in 2003 (and actually before as well), Iraq did not harbor terrorists who were trying to attack the US. Iraq became the central front for the war on terror simply because we invaded a country that posed no threat to this country. When we did that, we opened up the largest and most vast training grounds for terrorists and mujahadeen in the world. The small percentage of Muslims who identify themselves as radicals came flooding into Iraq to shoot at Americans. There have been many plans other than your so-called "cut and run" and President Bush has disregarded them all every step of the way. You tell me. How does sending in more troops help the situation when study after study, and general after general has said that more troops just won't do the trick? How? I proposed cut and run? No. That's just false. I never wanted to go in the first place. I suggest you read the following 2 books. Ghost Wars, and Fiasco. Containment of Saddam Hussein was working even better than we thought it was. His military was basically shut down, they had little functioning equipment, no air support, and not many loyal troops. Our no fly zones in the North and South and sanctions were working. Saddam Hussein, and Iraq posed no threat at all to the United States. They didn't support terrorism (since terrorism is a fundamentalist belief and Iraq, under Saddam was generally a secular country), and they couldn't mount an effective offensive against anyone in the world, let alone the US. How are the terrorists going to destroy us? Answer me that. They're not.

Militarily, they can't inflict enough damage on a country the size of the US to even make a dent. They don't have enough followers, or near enough power to invade the US and "destroy us" as you so say. We have been cowed into a fear by this administration that the terrorists are hiding behind every corner. That they're out to get us. They're going to destroy our cities. At best, they could only hope for another 9/11 tragedy. And even then, how many Americans were lost in those attacks? Under 3000. It was a large loss of life, and again a tragedy, but statistically, you have a better chance falling in your shower and getting killed that way, than you do from being killed by a terrorist attack. Please, get real. The chances of a common person in the US getting killed by a terrorist is so astronomically low, the percentage is just about 0%. Statistically speaking, it's not going to happen to the 99.999995% of people living in the US. We've been sold fear, and most people, such as yourself, have lapped it up.

Freedom is not free? Again, I ask how Iraq was threatening our freedom? I figured you wouldn't have an answer. I know freedom is not free. I have had relatives serve in the armed services, and they have actually protected this country when indeed, we have been actually threatened. Iraq, was not a threat. If we really wanted a good target in the middle east post 9/11, we should have rallied against Pakistan after taking out Afghanistan. Why? Pakistan my friend is one small military coup away from being a highly radical Islamic nation that already has nuclear weapons. And they continue through back channels to support the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and supported them when they were in power, and helped to hide away Osama Bin Laden.

Also, if Iraq was so important Osama must have been hiding there right? That's why we invaded, because they were harboring Bin Laden? Oh wait, no, he's probably in Pakistan (see above paragraph). Why haven't we caught the mastermind of 9/11? Because the Bush administration has actually ignored the fight against terrorists in lieu of invading Iraq (for no good reason) and wasting our resources there.

Oh, and I hate to break it to you Ms. Unknown, but the vast majority of this country now agree with my position of taking troops out now, and ending this war in Iraq. And also Mr. Bush is now a lame duck President with approval ratings in the low 30's and some ratings say into the high 20's. Public opinion now more and more agrees with me, and less and less with you. So maybe YOU should leave this country? As it no longer supports your world view in general.

People like me shouldn't be allowed to speak? What in the hell are you talking about? That's how you want to run a democracy? You want to pick and choose who gets to talk? Who gets to state their opinions? That would be great. You know, we call that a dictatorship, and if America turns into that, which it won't, then I would be leaving town. Luckily, for me, and for you, we can spout off just about anything we want, because we do have the 1st amendment in that pesky little document called the Constitution again. You know, that little scrap of paper that seems to keep getting in the way of King George from actually just doing what he wants when he wants (even though he pretty much does already). I'm glad that we live in a country where everyone can have their opinions and make them known. I'm even glad that you get to talk your nonsense, even though you can't back your arguments with actual facts most of the time I'm guessing, you still get to have an opinion, and that's a wonderful thing.

Luckily, I disagree with you on just about everything. Luckily for me, the majority of residents in the United States agrees with me. I say it's a good thing that Bush is in office for another 2 years, because come 2008, whoever wins the nomination for the democratic party will be ensured a victory, and we will take back the White House. And on one last note, I do wish that Bush's strategery would actually work, and that peace could reign in Iraq, but you know, I'm not going to hold my breath.

If you wish to post comments on here, please do so, I won't make that impossible to do. But if you're just going to pour forth from your mouth Dick Cheney's favorite talking points, save your breath. Come up with a coherent (and properly spelled) argument, and we can debate, but until then, maybe you should just shut up? It's just a thought, as I hear your talking points over and over again in the media everyday, and it's getting tiring. Do you have an independent thought in your head? Or do you just repeat the daily Rush Limbaugh show and take his point of view as gospel? Because that's what it sounds like to me really. And remember, as one of our founding fathers once said, "Opposition to tyranny is patriotic."

Oh, and one last point, do yourself a favor, and actually read the Constitution. It might be a good wake up call for you.