It's a very gray issue, indeed.  Anti-abortion zealots know this, which is why they would have you believe that every abortion is "drilling into a baby's head and sucking it's brains out".  Which, of course, isn't true.

I don't think the Zogby questionnaire has a wrong answer.  Go with your own truth.

How is wanting to disengage from Iraq comparable to appeasing Hitler or the Kaiser?

Saddam Hussein was no imperialist overrunning his neighbors.  He may have been guilty of delusions of grandeur, but he was a failure as a megalomaniac.  He tried Kuwait 15 years ago.  Didn't work.  More than met his match in the war against Iran.  Didn't even bother with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Good ol' Saddam wasn't behind 9-11, never met Osama, wasn't cooperating with Al Qaeda, didn't have WMDs, and even if he did, had no serious weapons delivery systems.  Oh, he talked tough, but couldn't walk the walk worth a damn.

So what made him this global threat again?

And where's the NY Times on this story?

In the print edition of today's (Mon 2-20) paper, the controversy over a UAE company taking over American ports rated one story.

It was a small item on page A9; and it was by the AP, not a Times reporter.

Where's the Times?  Just askin'...

DeLay said this indictment was just meanie politics by that meanie Democratic DA Ronnie Earle.

And a court chock full of Republicans turns him down?  Without so much as a written opinion?

The mind reels....

Gary, your premise that people are likely to lie to pollters about the acceptability of a woman CinC is based solely on your non-verifiable assumptions.

I'll feel more comfortable with your arguments when you offer evidence showing how often people lie to pollsters by giving them answers they think pollsters want to hear.

Well, I'm looking you straight in the eye, and telling you that, strictly speaking, the US IS a Republic.  And that's good!

A Republic is a government in which citizens elect representatives to legislative bodies that debate and decide laws, treatys, etc.  If prudently designed, a Republic acts to moderate extremist views from any political perspective, thus (in theory) minimizing the chances of hotheads seizing power by the "right" of some issue du jour.

A Democracy, on the other hand, is rule of the majority.  Sometimes a slim majority.  Sound familiar?

The Founding Fathers, aware that the whim of the public can be very fickle, devised Congress, especially the Senate, in ways that would moderate the excesses of public zeal.  In fact, originally members of the Senate were actually chosen by state legislatures, not citizens, in order to protect members, and the nation itself, from the whims of the electorate.  The desire to insulate the justice system from the extremes of voter sentiment is also a reason why federal judges are confirmed by the Senate.  Not by the House.  Not by voters.  In addition, protecting the federal courts from transient political pressures is why judges are nominated for life.  IMO all state judges should be chosen and retained in a similar manner.

I think we both agree that the "nuclear option" proposed by Senator Frist is a really bad idea.    It opens the door to the dreaded "tyranny of the majority".  I can only hope that sensible GOP lawmakers realize that invoking this will eventually bite them where the sun never shines.  Eventually the GOP will be in the minority.  And that means they will be the victim, not the victor of this tyranny.

In sum, the US is a Republic, not a Democracy.  That is a very good thing.  Let's hope it continues.

If I misinterpeted your post, I apologize.

Red suburban and rural interests acting mean and petty toward their Blue big city cousins.  Yep, in Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, LA, SF, NYC...

And dont forget Atlanta.  Poor Atlanta.  A city in two counties (Fulton and DeKalb), both separate from the city, with suburbs and rural areas which just hate those people from the city proper.  I could go on about how cities benefit a whole state, not just the city, and how in the long run its in the best interests of suburan and rural folks alike to join together in symbiotic relationships with their city cousins... but I think I'd be preaching to the choir.

concerning Chicago.  It's not the capital of Illinois, which (like Pennsylvania) confers that honor on a smaller city, in this case, Springfield.  And the Illinois legislature is historically Republican, therefore often not on the same side as Chicago on fiscal and social issues.  For example, presently the city is begging the state to help bail out the CTA, which runs it's trains and buses.  This happens all the time.

It's true that IL Gov. Ray Bragojevich is a Democrat, but that office is often in the hands of the GOP.

That being said, it sounds as if Philadehia mayor John Street is getting a bum rap.  He's not that bad.  And Chicago's Daley ain't that good.

I agree with Sharris 0512.  I think it's okay to nail Gannon and his backers, but do NOT politicize a death.  It's not just off-message, it's cruel.  And it's not what Democrats should be about.