Well lookie what the red-headed gal stirred up...your absence is noted, ma'am. Grey Goose martini in hand, or out running down Earth-Firsters in their Volvos?

More good points than I care to tackle. But wherever this goes, thank Roc for his service. It ain't easy, ain't pretty, the pay sucks and the beer was non-alcoholic. Thank you.

And regarding the 82nd, (touche, man, touche, that is Senator Benson quality)...at least they are all over 18...I believe Lawrence of Arabia (English chap) liked them on the young side. I shall refrain from reciting the Monty Python Lumberjack song.

America, much like England in times past only comes in large doses. Ok, well, let's go back to the hot women--I thought Canada had a great per-capita hottie scene (the ones that aren't killing people--http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_k...jump_page.html)...per

America is the land of opportunity and there is no excuse for being on welfare. My wife flew to the CajunDome after Katrina with a church group. They brought back a bus full of impoverished, lost, and homeless people. They were placed in donated apartments. I helped unload donated furniture in those apartments. For folks I have never met. Those folks got a helping hand and a fresh start. The rest was up to them. Some will make it, some won't. No doubt, Katrina was a fiasco, but the challenge was unprecendented, and coupled with the cultural and economic demographics, there was no pretty outcome. I went through Hurricane Charlie. On dry land. With cash, connections, and chainsaws. Messy process any way you look at it. Either way, FEMA should be shuttered and responsibility given to the states.

We are one of the most giving societies in the world, and it could be argued that Gitmo is a product of our naivete. You'd think the bombing of the USS Cole would have sent us over the ramparts, but no, we tried to respond in a measured and politically sensitive way. Gitmo does not hold poets, satirists, or playrights. Gitmo is filled with people that want to kill us, that were in the process of trying to kill American soldiers when they got nailed, soldiers who are "Zionist infidels" who allow women to vote, drive their own cars, and have a career. I'm sorry, not going to happen, and if Gitmo (medical care, prayer mats, beards allowed--are the Canadian aid workers being treated as well?) is offensive, so be it. I am offended that I can't get on an airplane without wondering if the cargo hold is going to blow.

There is also no excuse for a nation not to venerate and fully participate in democracy...but we get the leadership we deserve. I don't think Rove is going to get a free pass in 2008. The issues are going to be real in '08. I hope the American voting public demands the same of the candidates. We must be better guardians of our national identity--for instance, friends of mine recently moved their business to Toronto--but guess what? The government spent months vetting them, their business, their finances, and provincal regulations demand that they take french lessons! America needs to button things up and stop trying to be so politically correct. Legal topless swimming pools and beaches like Vancouver has might also be a plus.

Insisting on a degree of control and security as regards our ports and borders while war maimed young people fill the hallways of Walter Reed is not too much to ask...hats off to free speech, folks

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