I'm just so glad I live in a BLUE state, and not

• Way to go John - Good job! - ermt
  • 7online.com - sw
    • Obama definitely won and it will be a landslide - These people who want McCain are angry losers
      • How about the people who just don't want Obama - MSMT
    • Good news if you want to believe a liberal - opinion - and NY nonetheless (nm)
    • Wow - local news from NY - how unbiased. - gimmeabreak
      • New Yorkers are very smart people for the most part - Where are you ? In a shack somewhere?
        • Yes, I live in a shack. On the oceanfront with 5 bedrooms. - gimmeabreak
      • Well, then post a link to YOUR local news! - (preferably one without a virus, pleeze)
        • Who gives a rip about local news in an already-decided state? - huh?
          • Hofstra debate - sw
          • How do you know 'gimmeabreak's' state is - 'already decided?'
            • Read the thread. It's about a local - - NEW YORK news channel
              • Sorry, got tripped up in the thread... the ol' - eyes are starting to glaze over!
                • Maybe you should put down the weed then, Mr Obama. - nm
                  • pothead beats an alcoholic, any day . - they kill a lot fewer people, too.
                    • Well Obama did both and admitted to doing too much - of both...wonder how much he does now
                    • Obama was a lush in college, huh? - figures
                      • Now there's a perfect example of true - Republispeak: fact-twisting is the key.
                        • And the Dem's tactic of - - bash and run
                          • Fact-twisting: It's key. -
                            • thank you - I learned it from Obama - - king of denial
                              • Yep, by cracky - it's KEY. - .
  • Voting for McCain too, even if I have little hope of - him winning. He is a good man.nm
    • He WAS a good man. But his best days - are 'way too far behind him.
      • Oh you are so wrong. You left-wingers are just so whacked. - MSMT
        • That's right - 'go down with the ship'. - Valiant perhaps, but not practical.
          • I for one would rather go down with the ship than - BE THE WHO WHO HELPS SINK IT!!!
        • Shhhh! That's supposed to be a secret. - sm
        • Change - sw
          • I agree. Nobody vote for Bush this year. - nm
            • Problem solved - sw
              • Brainwashed. Rinse. Repeat. - Obama=Stalin
          • I'm just so glad I live in a BLUE state, and not - a red one.
            • blue:red - sw
              • Can you imagine living in a red state, and - SM
                • What exactly are you trying to say here? - Zville MT
                  • Poster is making a racist comment as you well - know which is no doubt
                  • So you must live in one of the good - neighborhoods.
                    • I still don't get it. - Zville MT
                      • sometimes you have to read between the lines, and - not take everything literally.
                        • Must also be hard for some people to give direct answers after making a statement like that. - Zville MT
                          • No, what's hard is not getting banned from - the forum. Gotta 'nice it up'.
                  • They cry racist every time somebody points out - the truth.
                    • That's because that's all you know....they've been - taught if you don't like the message sm
                    • Anyone who gets upset about that would probably be: - a RACIST.
                      • You proved my point. - Thank you, Rev Wright
                        • Let's talk about McCain and the Keating Five or his - involvement in Iran Contra and
                          • I agree to a certain point..... - MSMT
                        • Ayuh. - sheesh
  • Good job? - sw
    • I guess you think lying to the American is good???? - ermt
    • How come any time someone points out the TRUTH... - sm
      • you people wouldn't know the 'truth' if it hit - you over the head with a hammer.
        • Like Ayers and Wright and ACORN? - Dems can't handle the truth
          • That's pathetic. (where's my hammer?) -
            • Sidestep. Just like your Barry. - big surprise
              • Goldwater? - ?
                • As in Barry Hussein Obama. - Don't you know your own candidate?
      • Bottom line - sw
        • Majority wanted Hitler, too, moron. - gimmeabreak
          • no, majority was INTIMIDATED by Hitler. - huge difference there
            • And Dems are FOOLED by Obama - - Dems are suckers
              • Bush turned out to be a socialist and you were fooled by him - you probably voted for BUSH
            • majority is charmed and brainwashed by Obama - just as bad -country is going down.nm
              • No, Majority knows O could use those qualities - to deal with difficult nations/leaders.
                • hahahahahahahahahahahaha - are you serious?
                  • Whatever you say is the truth, then I guess it must - be written in stone somewhere, huh.
                  • Scary, huh? I think they are serious. - lets hire friend of ACORN and Ayers,,sad.nm
    • JM was slurring some of his words, too. - (loose dentures?)
      • McCain was having trouble speaking - and calls Obama eloquent as if it's an insult
      • Nah, we have to hold our mouth in a - Nanaw
      • I think it was all the BULLSH!T Obama was trying to shove - - down his throat.
        • I think JM was up past his bedtime. - ;p
          • I think you have daddy issues. - nm
            • ????? -
          • And I think Obama forgot his pacifier. (nm) - :-o
        • You said it. Glad we weren't the only ones. - no message
    • Obama is a talker, that is all. Tell me something - he has accomplished...TALKER.nm
      • Exactly, he never gave a definitive - Nanaw
  • LOL !!! Time for shuffleboard, John. - Maybe you can win at that.
    • So let me get this straight - sm - ermt
    • Agreed ermt... very nice post, but please - ignore the haters. Some of us see O the phony.nm
      • Thx - now I could see how frustrated - ermt
      • I'm a HATER, alright. I hate the ol' boy's club - in Washington. And I do mean OLD.
        • Yes, he's too old. Let's vote in an inexperienced boob.. - nm
          • The 'inexperienced boobs' belong to - Sarah Palin.
            • I guess this makes you a stupid loser - Nanaw
        • Yeah, and you hate Sarah P, but love Hillary? - You hate boys, girls, unless are liberals.nm
          • The only thing Palin and Hillary have in common - is their genitals
          • exactly where is it that i said i loved hillary? - 'Out with the Old - In with the New!'

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Written last Thanksgiving:  "Some would argue that two different nations actually celebrated: upright, moral, traditional red America and the dissolute, liberal blue states clustered on the periphery of the heartland. The truth, however, is much more complicated and interesting than that.

Take two iconic states: Texas and Massachusetts. In some ways, they were the two states competing in the last election. In the world's imagination, you couldn't have two starker opposites. One is the homeplace of Harvard, gay marriage, high taxes, and social permissiveness. The other is Bush country, solidly Republican, traditional, and gun-toting. Massachusetts voted for Kerry over Bush 62 to 37 percent; Texas voted for Bush over Kerry 61 to 38 percent.

So ask yourself a simple question: which state has the highest divorce rate? Marriage was a key issue in the last election, with Massachusetts' gay marriages becoming a symbol of alleged blue state decadence and moral decay. But in actual fact, Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the country at 2.4 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants. Texas - which until recently made private gay sex a criminal offence - has a divorce rate of 4.1. A fluke? Not at all. The states with the highest divorce rates in the U.S. are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. And the states with the lowest divorce rates are: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Every single one of the high divorce rate states went for Bush. Every single one of the low divorce rate states went for Kerry. The Bible Belt divorce rate, in fact, is roughly 50 percent higher than the national average.

Some of this discrepancy can be accounted for by the fact that couples tend to marry younger in the Bible Belt - and many clearly don't have the maturity to know what they're getting into. There's some correlation too between rates of college education and stable marriages, with the Bible Belt lagging a highly educated state like Massachusetts. But the irony still holds. Those parts of America that most fiercely uphold what they believe are traditional values are not those parts where traditional values are healthiest. Hypocrisy? Perhaps. A more insightful explanation is that these socially troubled communities cling onto absolutes in the abstract because they cannot live up to them in practice.

But doesn't being born again help bring down divorce rates? Jesus, after all, was mum on the subject of homosexuality, but was very clear about divorce, declaring it a sin unless adultery was involved. A recent study, however, found no measurable difference in divorce rates between those who are "born again" and those who are not. 29 percent of Baptists have been divorced, compared to 21 percent of Catholics. Moreover, a staggering 23 percent of married born-agains have been divorced twice or more. Teen births? Again, the contrast is striking. In a state like Texas, where the religious right is extremely strong and the rhetoric against teenage sex is gale-force strong, the teen births as a percentage of all births is 16.1 percent. In liberal, secular, gay-friendly Massachusetts, it's 7.4, almost half. Marriage itself is less popular in Texas than in Massachusetts. In Texas, the percent of people unmarried is 32.4 percent; in Massachusetts, it's 26.8 percent. So even with a higher marriage rate, Massachusetts manages a divorce rate almost half of its "conservative" rival.

Or take abortion. America is one of the few Western countries where the legality of abortion is still ferociously disputed. It's a country where the religious right is arguably the strongest single voting bloc, and in which abortion is a constant feature of cultural politics. Compare it to a country like Holland, perhaps the epitome of socially liberal, relativist liberalism. So which country has the highest rate of abortion? It's not even close. America has an abortion rate of 21 abortions per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 44. Holland has a rate of 6.8. Americans, in other words, have three times as many abortions as the Dutch. Remind me again: which country is the most socially conservative?

Even a cursory look at the leading members of the forces of social conservatism in America reveals the same pattern. The top conservative talk-radio host, Rush Limbaugh, has had three divorces and an addiction to pain-killers. The most popular conservative television personality, Bill O'Reilly, just settled a sex harassment suit that indicated a highly active adulterous sex life. Bill Bennett, the guru of the social right, was for many years a gambling addict. Karl Rove's chief outreach manager to conservative Catholics for the last four years, Deal Hudson, also turned out to be a man with a history of sexual harassment. Bob Barr, the conservative Georgian congressman who wrote the "Defense of Marriage Act," has had three wives so far. The states which register the highest ratings for the hot new television show, "Desperate Housewives," are all Bush-states.

The complicated truth is that America truly is a divided and conflicted country. But it's a grotesque exaggeration to say that the split is geographical, or correlated with blue and red states. Many of America's biggest "sinners" are those most intent on upholding virtue. In fact, it may be partly because they know sin so close-up that they want to prevent its occurrence among others. And some of those states which have the most liberal legal climate - the Northeast and parts of the upper MidWest - are also, in practice, among the most socially conservative. To ascribe all this to "hypocrisy" seems to me too crude an explanation. America is simply a far more complicated and diverse place than crude red and blue divisions can explain.

they are adding police and only in the big cities do they have paid firemen. The rest are volunteers.

I look at it this way: If a state can't stay in the black, then they have to cut spending some place that wouldn't jeopardize the safety of the citizens. Threats of cutting essential services like Barney Fife stated today are unjustified. Cut the non-essential services first.

Our governor talks about cutting back on services, laying off government workers, which I think is a good idea because government is too big anyway, but then he turns around and spends more money on non-essential items. Doesn't make sense.  

Two Border State Governors Declare Illegal Immigration State of Emergency

SIGN THE PETITION!
CLICK HERE!

THANK YOU!

I live in Wisconsin and am often also in Minnesota.

No, I'm not a stalker or a weirdo (my opinion, anyway).

A. Anyone who dares to tell a joke about President Obama in public.

  It's funny cause it's true...

Many people were confined against their will just because someone wanted them "out of the way." These were normal people with no mental illness - that is why it is so difficult - don't blame the liberals. Blame your state.

CONFINING THE MENTALLY ILL


In the legal space between what a society should and should not do, taking action to restrict the liberty of people who are mentally ill sits in the grayest of gray areas.

Our notions about civil and constitutional rights flow from an assumption of "normalcy." Step beyond the boundaries and arrest and prison may legally follow. Short of that, government's ability to hold people against their will is severely and properly limited. Unusual behavior on the part of someone who is mentally ill is not illegal behavior. Freedom can't be snatched away on a whim, or on the thought that a person is hard to look at, hard to hear, hard to smell.

It was only a few decades ago that the promise of new medications and a change in attitude opened the doors of the mental hospitals and sent many patients into society. There, they would somehow "normalize" and join everyone else, supported by networks of out-patient facilities, job training, special living arrangements and regular, appropriate medication. But the transition has been imperfect, long and difficult.

In some parts of urban America there is little professional support for those with mental health problems. A new generation of drug and alcohol-fueled mental illness has come on the scene. People frequently end up on the street, un-medicated and exhibiting a full range of behaviors that are discomforting at the very least and threatening at their worst.

');

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She did rant when Bush was prez. Now everything is blue skies with a big pot'o'change
at the end of the rainbow!

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I for one am glad AG
some opposing views. I'm all for that. Too often "stalking" gets mentioned when it's really just someone who finds a lot to argue with in someone else's posts - of course they're going to reply if they have something to say. It's usually nothing personal. And even if it becomes that after so much back-and-forth, so what? If a person is arguing with facts and debating relevant issues, the other poster ought to have their facts in line also for a good reply. Challenging isn't "stalking." I think those who fear challenge are those who don't really have a desire to debate at all, or aren't sure of their own information - in which case why are they here in a political forum when there are happy happy recipe exchanges going on a couple of forums over?

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Glad to see him go...nm

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I'm Glad...
Judith Regan, the woman who wrote the book, claims she contracted with his lawyers that the money went to the kids or she would not have done it. Don't know if that is true or not; that is what I read. I am also glad that Fox dropped it. Pressure on NBC also resulted in the crucifixion-like scene in Madonna's concert being cut. The people do have a voice...we just need to continue to use it.

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Yes, and I am very glad
that there are less of our troops dying over there. I guess my point was just that some people (not meaning you, but people on the news) discuss how things are going good in Iraq without always necessarily taking into context how BAD it was. I do recall hearing on MSNBC I think how that even though the number of deaths has gone down in recent months, 2007 was still the deadliest year in the war. I would be curious to see how the number of deaths/injuries now compares to each month/year since the war began.

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Glad to see someone else...
has refused to drink the Kool-Aid.

Excellent post with great points, not bashing, threats, scare tactics and hot air. Refreshing these days.

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I'm glad -nm
.

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I'm glad you know her so well.
You see her one way, I see her another.  I don't like her, you do, so what's the big deal?  I think she is phony, you think she's sincere.  We'll see.

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I'm glad! nm
x

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I'm so glad I don't believe all that s#it.
Or the gum on the bottom of your shoe is an omen of the end of the world because it resembles Satan.

Ooga-booga-booga -
whattabunchavoodoo.

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I'm glad you are.............sm
but that is not the case with everyone.

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While I am glad
That part of the stimulus was taken out, I don't agree with the fact that the alternative is a depression. We are already walking a razor's edge of a depression. There isn't a whole lot that is going to "save the economy" or the world financial markets. Prices and company stocks were over inflated for many years and each market must reset themselves. With more money being printed and nothing to back it up, we will have hyperinflation probably towards the end of this year. There are a few very respected analysts that are saying September of 2009 is going to be the worst.

I give Obama all the credit in the world for trying to undertake this massive problem but at the same time it is his job. I hope he is able to pull something out of his hat that is fair and right to everyone.

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Thank you - I'm glad I was not the only one
I got through the first sentence, but the rest just rambled on and I could not understand what point was being made except that the poster was too happy to call someone a teabagger. I guess that's the "trendy" thing to do now. I still would like to know if she would like me to call her the "c" word and see how she likes it.

Like cuss words that you cannot say on this board I think this is one of those terms that should be banned.

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I am glad he is doing SOMETHING
I am willing to give the man a chance. I don't condemn him simply because he is not of "my party."

I do not like the spending at all - but he was not the cause of that spending. He is just trying to "fix" the broken system he was given.

As has been asked numerous times on this board, what better ideas do you have?

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YES! Right on GP! Glad to see you again.

Although we do disagree at times, just like I disagree with JTBB sometimes, at least they are normal "conversations." 

 

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Thank you. I'm glad someone can understand
Most of the time on these boards I feel like I'm on another planet.

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Glad to be back. sm
No I am not walking on eggshells because of the other board. I re-read my post.  I am the daughter of a Command Sergeant Major, from the real old Army, and we did not discuss rank at all; it was not proper at that time.  When we were overseas, we were all Americans and equal; rank, race, religion did not matter, we were all the same - AMERICANS. When I said earlier my dad was "spat upon".  He wasn't but many VN soldiers were; and I was speaking for them.  No one in their right mind would have spat on my dad.  He was infantry, a sharp-shooter, a marksman.  That was his MOS - military occupational specialty.  The second time he went to VN he got two kinds of malaria at once, and he was shot so full of quinine, he had tremors, I probably did not spell it right, probably tremers, he could never hold a gun again. We were stationed in Germany between 1960-1963, and I still don't know the deal.  All I know is there would be a lot of activity all of a sudden in the middle of the night; mom would be up helping him pack, and he would be gone - maybe for a day, maybe for three months, maybe for a year, and he never talked about it.  I did ask him one time when I was a child if he had ever killed anyone.  He teared up and said he had killed many men, but the hardest was that he had to kill a kid who had a grenade in his hand and was trying to kill him.  Anyhow, we got back to the states in late 63, early 64, just in time for the JFK assination; that is when all innocence stopped for me, and I became a bitter person - working on it though. Thanks gals, just got mom to bed, needed to vent.

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I'm certainly glad you didn't go into it...

This is a joke, a parody of all the ridiculous right-winger fundamentalists telling us the tsunami is God punishing people who don't think like them, that Katrina looked like a fetus.......blah-blah-blah. 

The difference is that this is a JOKE and the other examples are DEAD SERIOUS!!!!!  I hope you understand this better now.

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You're welcome, glad
He is an excellent writer. Too bad it often falls on deaf ears and blind eyes. Yes, I agree with you, that people tend to take their news with 30-second soundbites and don't read anymore.

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I'm glad you posted this. Thanks! nm
x

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Wish I'd seen that! Well, actually glad I didn't.

Gawd,  just think about the possibilities for teenage rebellion reasons when these kids are old enough.  And I thought I had it bad at age 15!!!!! 

I tend to see a link in:  Oppression of women = viewing women as baby machines

Mind you, I do think babies are precious but I don't necessarily believe that quantity equals quality.

Some religions foster woman as baby-machines (Catholicism included, unfortunately), some cultures foster it.  But as I said, it's part of the destruction of our world if it continues.  Okay, I'll climb down off my soapbox now.

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I'm glad someone is helping.
Shame on this administration!

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I'm very glad you're here.
I enjoy reading your posts.  I hope you stay. 

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Then I'm glad you know Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11

and that they had no WMDs. 

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Glad to not be a democrat. Please sm

 

Senators vote on English       33 Senators Voted Against English as America 's Official Language June 6, 2007   On Wed, 6 Jun 2007 23:35:23 -0500, "Colonel Harry Riley USA ret" wrote:   Senators,   Your vote against an amendment to the Immigration Bill 1348, to make English America's official language is astounding. On D-Day no less when we honor those that sacrificed in order to secure the bedrock character and principles of America . I can only surmise your vote reflects a loyalty to illegal aliens.   I don't much care where you come from, what your religion is, whether you're black, white or some other color, male or female, democrat, republican or independent, but I do care when you're a United States Senator, representing citizens of America and vote against English as the official language of the United States   Your vote reflects betrayal, political surrender, violates your pledge of allegiance, dishonors historical principle, rejects patriotism, borders on traitorous action and, in my opinion, makes you unfit to serve as a United States Senator... impeachment, recall, or other appropriate action is warrented.   Worse, 4 of you voting against English as America 's official language are presidential candidates: Senator Biden, Senator Clinton, Senator Dodd, and Senator Obama.    Those 4 Senators vying to lead America but won't or don't have the courage to cast a vote in favor of English as America's official language when 91% of American citizens want English officially designated as our language.    This is the second time in the last several months this list of Senators have disgraced themselves as political hacks... unworthy as Senators and certainly unqualifed to serve as President of the United States.   If America is as angry as I am, you will realize a back-lash so stunning it will literally rock you out of your panties... and preferably, totally out of the United States Senate.   The entire immigration bill is a farce... your action only confirms this really isn't about America ; it's about self-serving politics... despicable at best. "Never argue with an idiot; they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." ~ anonymous  The following senators voted against making English the official language of America :    Akaka (D-HI)  Bayh (D-IN)  Biden (D-DE) Wants to be President? Bingaman (D-NM)  Boxer (D-CA)  Cantwell (D-WA)  Clinton (D-NY) Wants to be President? Dayton (D-MN)  Dodd (D-CT) Wants to be President? Domenici (R-NM) Coward, protecting his Senate seat... Durbin (D-IL)  Feingold (D-WI) Not unusual for him Feinstein (D-CA)  Harkin (D-IA)  Inouye (D-HI)  Jeffords (I-VT)  Kennedy (D-MA)  Kerry (D-MA) Wanted to be President Kohl (D-WI)  Lautenberg (D-NJ)  Leahy (D-VT)  Levin (D-MI)  Lieberman (D-CT) Disappointment here..... Menendez (D-NJ)  Mikulski (D-MD)  Murray (D-WA)  Obama (D-IL) Wants to be President? Reed (D-RI)  Reid (D-NV) Senate Majority Leader Salazar (D-CO)  Sarbanes (D-MD)  Schumer (D-NY)  Stabenow (D-M) "Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale, and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled or hanged."  ~ President Abraham Lincoln  "   Amen  "     ________________________________________

 

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