Bush invalidates Fifth Ammendment by Executive Order

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Flint

Funny. Of course you have no problem finding material on Clinton, because people bitched about Clinton being the Devil (and still do) as much as they do now about Bush. I find the polar opposition fascinating. I suppose you could say it doesn't matter who is in office, or which party they belong to, but there is a general problem with our system, or the perception exists that there is.

And this process will repeat itself if Hitlery Clinton is elected. And we can all switch sides of the table and start the process anew.

[Flint]

Only this time, we're doomed for sure! ha ha ha

[Happy Monkey]

Here's an extensive rundown.

[Undertoad]

I too find the opposition fascinating; some say it is the unraveling before the crisis.

While personal satisfaction is high, public trust ebbs amid a fragmenting culture, harsh debates over values, and weakening civic habits. The sense of guilt (which rewards principle and individuality) reaches its zenith. As moral debates brew, the big public arguments are over ends, not means. Decisive public action becomes very difficult, as community problems are deferred. Wars are fought with moral fervor but without consensus or follow-through.

Eventually, cynical alienation hardens into a brooding pessimism. During a High, obliging individuals serve a purposeful society, and even bad people get harnessed to socially constructive tasks; during an Unraveling, an obliging society serves purposeful individuals, and even good people find it hard to connect with their community. The approaching specter of public disaster ultimately elicits a mix of paralysis and apathy that would have been unthinkable half a saeculum earlier. People can now feel, but collectively can no longer do.

[Flint]

"some say" ... hey, cool, thx for the link to your hippy brainswashing ...

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yon

We live far better on base here in Baqubah than many people who are living downtown (though there are some very nice homes), and it’s not all about money. Not at all and not in the least. When Americans move into Iraqi buildings, the buildings start improving from the first day. And then, the buildings near the buildings start to improve. It’s not about the money, but the mindset. The Greatest Generation called it “the can-do mentality.” It’s a wealth measured not only in dollars, but also in knowledge. The burning curiosity that launched the Hubble, flows from that mentality, and so does the revenue stream of taxpayer dollars that funded it. Iraq is very rich in resources, but philosophically it is impoverished. The truest separation between cultures is in the collective dreams of their people.

When I listen to people in these civil administration meetings inventorying the obstacles, giving detailed and passionate speeches about why the things that need to happen cannot, often next comes the tired lament, “You can do these things because America is rich.” This seems like a chicken-egg argument, but it’s not. They will stare at you like a bird. Blinking. Blinking. As if waiting for an answer to a question that seems to forever loop back on itself. “But you are rich! You put a man on the moon!”

When a person holds an egg in hand, the question seems answered. And when a person holds a chicken, the question seems answered.