K-9

Iran-Contra was what had me looking at some hard, cold facts about the Republican neo-con game plan. I won't spend time revisiting it. People can educate themselves. But I find the whole thing a bit Orwellian. And I think it's disgusting that Oliver North is held up as some sort of American hero for the role he played in it. I don't think Clinton was targeted in retaliation for Iran-Contra so much as a Democratic presidency derailed the neo-con agenda that had really taken hold under Reagan and they couldn't/wouldn't lose that momentum.

I think he's saying that Calvin wouldn't vote for either. Instead, Calvin would throw two candidates in the lake and whomever sank would get his vote. The other, burned at the stake.

I remember thinking that, too. If he can lie about an extra-marital affair he can lie about anything. But he never should have been entrapped to lie about that in the first place. It was disgusting that a private family matter became fodder for the Republican machine and actually led to an impeachment. I had to travel abroad most of the time back then and I was amazed at the universal opinion on the matter. From Asia to Europe to S America they all thought it was ridiculous. I understand the part about lying under oath. That was wrong and indefensible. But after 6 years and $75m dollars worth of Kenneth Starr's investigation, from trying to tie him to murder to embezzlement, the best that witch hunt could do was hang him on a ######. And they had to entrap him to do it. And they did it in the most lurid ways, too. Wiring Linda Tripp and taping her conversations with Monica Lewinsky? Unbelievable. And embarrassing. I had started to break from the party in the late 80s and this whole affair clinched it. What transpired after 2000 only confirmed and validated my reasoning.

There's a lot to like about the insight this post provides. Well done. One of the things I've always admired about our founders is their uncanny anticipation of how societal shifts would necessitate the very flexibility built into our system of government. When Jefferson wrote about viewing it as a jacket that would have to be let out or taken in from time to time he was speaking to that. He knew that our values as a society would change as the course of human events changed, that what worked yesterday wouldn't work today or that what's working today wouldn't necessarily work tomorrow.

Meh. Against the backdrop of NO HOCKEY this celebration rings hollow. Better for them to postpone it until better times return, imo. GO SABRES!!!

Haha. In reading between the lines of Wood's comments about 2nd half collapses, I get the impression he'd rather wring the neck of somebody on defense rather than the chicken. I'd love it if he got in Mario's face and demanded he start earning his money like he did with Maybin. We are one more 2nd half collapse from Eric Wood going postal in the locker room. And it needs to happen, imo. GO BILLS!!!

For the record, I believe in EVERYBODY on that team as human beings. I'm old school in that I don't demand people first 'earn' my respect before I give it. Rather, everybody gets my respect until they do something to lose it. And while my belief in them as human beings has never been in question, my belief in them as a group of talented football players comprising a good team, is gone. I am still laughing at your embellishment of the Major League comparison. That is serious comedy gold right there. GO BILLS!!!

Truer words were never posted in this forum.

Depends damn well on who is crafting the policy. And you know that. Who was it that taught Dick Cheney that "deficits don't matter?" Blank checks are a staple of neo-con fiscal policy. The problem with the way they do it, is that their checks are written to a concentrated few vs. spreading it around. It's their own private form of stimulus spending but it only trickles down as far as the CEOs and shareholders of the corporations that receive their welfare checks. On a different note, I was wondering how sales of Loy Mauch FatHeads were doing down there? Another Son of the Confederacy to be proud of.

You should try staying at a Holiday Inn Express.

I do have a problem with fundamentalist religious leaders in Iran. As do the majority of Iranian people. Unfortunately, this is what happens when a small minority assumes power of the military and it serves as a good example as to why wing nuts like Broun should be kept as far away from the mechanisms as possible. However, your attempt to goad me into saying we should intervene militarily in Iran because they are beyond reasonable discussion won't work. Ironically though, since it might be one of those events that trigger the Rapture, I'm sure Broun and his ilk would welcome it. Closer to home, there is nothing in your second paragraph I can even find a starting point for discussion on. As to your last paragraph, I am an advocate of having as diverse a set of disciplines and education levels on every committee as possible. The idea that only those with business degrees and big business experience can inform broad macro-economic policies is shortsighted and can be just as dangerous as thinking that only generals should be in charge of the military. You may find that alarming, I find it reassuring.

LA actually wants two NFL teams. Any city with Buffalo's vulnerable ownership situation would have to be worried about losing their team. I think the Chargers are the prime candidates and they would be returning to their original city to boot. GO BILLS!!!

OK, I have to respect the fact that this guy's constituents voted him into office and the fact that he's unopposed for reelection. But he has NO business being on the Congressional Science Committee. He and Akin need to be kicked off that committee. There is simply no room for reasoned debate with people like this on the the panel. It may be of little importance to most, but when lawmakers in a position to affect policies hold beliefs like this, I'm genuinely worried for the rest of us. Fundamentalists not only believe the Rapture is going to happen, there are many that would like to hasten it. I don't want my lawmakers to be among them. I would think it's obvious why that is. http://www.latimes.c...0,4628858.story

When it comes to leadership, you and I are seeing two entirely different teams at the moment. There is a huge vacuum at the moment and it's been painfully obvious, starting from the top. First ingredient to leadership is credibility and I don't know where it's coming from right now. Not from Gailey, who is 3-13 over his last 16. He also has these kinds of blowout losses in his tenure: 34-7, 38-14, 38-14, 34-3, 38-7, 44-7, 35-8. 37-10, 49-21, 48-28, 52-28, 45-3. Not from Fitz and for obvious reasons. When you have a receiver as demonstrably frustrated as his #1 is at the present time, you have problems. Guys have been wide open for a while now and Fitz isn't even missing them HALF the time any more. No credibility at the most important position on the team. Not from ANYBODY on the defense. If leadership was going to take a stand it HAD to be after their FIRST historically bad performance against the Pats. And that leadership immediately went out and spearheaded an even WORSE defensive performance the following week. The leaders on this team have been in that position since Gailey took over. They have a history of folding in the face of adversity by going on extended losing streaks in each of their two previous seasons together. I like your suggestion about the younger guys. In the absence of any credible veteran leadership, they need to take control no matter how uncomfortable it is. Much like when Kelly, Talley, TT and the boys told Smerlas and Devlin to go pound sand. GO BILLS!!!

Don't expect much. After giving up 8 sacks in consecutive weeks against the Phins and Rams, the first priority for AZ is to protect the QB. Look for a TON of max protect schemes. Even the greatest pass rushing teams will have trouble with max protection. Here's the shame of it; even though AZ will only be able to send 3 receivers when they are in max protect, they will have no trouble beating our back 6 or 7 (depending if Wanny blitzes one or not). We saw that last week against the Niners and they don't have a receiver nearly as good as Larry Fitzgerald. And with our OLine hurting and going up a VERY good front 7 in AZ, I don't look for them to win this weekend, either. GO BILLS!!!

Well, it's been a while since the Navy had a turn at the Government welfare tit. Suck on, gentlemen! Ahoy!

Fitz is the entire problem on offense. No debate. End of story. We need a better QB desperately. But as inconsistent as he is, he's not even close to the entire problem on the team. That distinction clearly belongs to the defense as a whole. When you have historically bad record setting performances on defense for two consecutive weeks, there is no debating the issue. This defense has me longing for the days of Harvey Johnson, Kay Stephenson, and Hank Bullough whose teams I remember quite well and whose defenses I thought I'd never see the likes of again. Well, this defense has surpassed those in terms of ineptitude. I'll save you the trouble of arguing that if we had a QB capable of staying on the field and keeping our defense off of it, then our D would be so much better. First and foremost, a defense has to get off the field on their own, all by themselves. If they're tired and rundown, they have themselves to blame before anyone else. Our D is literally our WORST DEFENSE EVER. And if you've seen some of the defenses from years ago that I alluded to above, you'd know how epic that level of suckitude really is. GO BILLS!!!

Haha. I'm completely surprised by this. Biden can be a cartoon at times but he's had some good debate performances in the past. If nothing else, he's got a lot of experience with them. I don't know what kind of debater Ryan is either, but I imagine he will have his numbers lined up. And those numbers are what Romney misrepresented in his debate last week. I'm sure Biden is going to mention Romney a lot as a result. And he can do that without having to worry about looking "vice presidential" because there is really no such thing. If Ryan spends more time defending Romney's flip-flopping and abrupt move to the center, he'll be forced to reveal his own abrupt move to the center as a result. There is an opening for Biden to hammer him with that change in position. Then again, Biden may punch himself in the head, like you said.

LoL. Definitely, that too.

Just heard a blurb in the background, not sure what channel, talking about the upcoming VP debate. I look for Biden to come out swinging and hitting hard on all the inconsistencies Obama couldn't or wouldn't throw back at Romney. Presidents have to look presidential and can't be attack dogs. But VPs on the other hand are made for that job. By tying Romney's plans to Ryan's and citing the stump rhetoric of Romney over the last 18 months, the stage is set for Biden to lay the hammer down. Now, if Biden is seen with a grimace and those long downward stares at his notes, then all bets are off. But I gotta think they've looked at the tape and made corrections. Unlike Dave Wannstadt.

To me, the saddest aspect of American politics is that the best and brightest who used to be attracted to it, will continue to stay away in droves. Public service used to be a noble pursuit. Now it's demonized; from dog catcher to president.

Used to love it whenever Bert would circle behind his net, gain possession, and Ted Darling would exclaim, "...Perreault, winding up in his own end..." I remember the very real adrenaline rush in my stomach, like when Juice got the ball, that he was gonna go end to end and pot one. There has never been a player to come close to that since. For as long as we've lamented our hard luck pursuit of championships, we've been just as lucky to have seen a once in a lifetime talent like him. GO BILLS!!!

I meant to post this earlier when I got to thinking of the dollar ties to oil and Hussein's threat to value it with a different currency. I know I'll get painted as cynical and a conspiracy nut, but it's just too damned coincidental for my tastes. And again, it's why I think Romney will have no problem being convinced we have to invade Iran. http://lewrockwell.c...atusa1.1.1.html Another article I found interesting. http://business.time...ced-in-dollars/

I felt a stirring in my loins reading that about Girgs' hitting ability. 18 years old and not afraid to let the bigger boys know they're in a game. He can't make the big squad fast enough. GO SABRES!!!

It's amazing how quickly we forgot about the Savings and Loan scandals of the late 80s and early 90s. A DIRECT result of our rush to deregulation among other things and a precedent setter for bailing out lending institutions. It always strikes me as ironic the way these staunch vanguards of free market principals don't mind socialistic government when it comes to bailing them out. "Too Big to Fail" is an interesting contradiction in terms to me. As to the dollar, am I wrong in assuming the major reason it hasn't collapsed already is because of it's tie to oil?