Baitrunner,

You would do well to remind Mr. Bush and his various generals of this! Bush himself and some of his generals (I'm sorry I can't remember their names, or specific remarks at this point) have made some frightening religious based comments in the last 2 years. Those are the remarks upon which I base my opinion that Bush is a religious zealot, in addition to the article above, posted by Val.

Just for the record I am not anti-Judeo/Christian, nor anti-religious, any more than I hate people with more money than me, or envy them. I am anti-anything which violates the U.S. Constitution, and thereby threatens my or anyone elses rights or freedoms. I believe religion is something one practices at home or in the church of their choice, not from the oval office, or the capitol, or the bench of the Supreme Court, and I aggressively defend the freedom from religion guaranteed me by the Constitution. Religion has no place in government, and government has no place in religion. BTW, I was raised Catholic.

There is a HUGE difference between Clinton, or Kerry, or anyone else "professing" their faith, or privately relying on it to guide them, and others trying to legislate their faith for everyone else or using it to justify war. Kerry addressed this very eloquently during the 2nd and 3rd debates when responding to questions regarding abortion and stem cell research.

Respectfully,

Jim

Nu2salt:

Your thoughts are lost in a sea of confusion. It is apparent in comments like "others trying to legislate their faith for everyone else or using it to justify war."


Maybe you outta practice some of that Catholisism and ask for a confession.

On second thought, perhaps the rights of Exorcism should be performed.

:D

Henry,

This being your last semester, I can understand your waiting and finishing before enlisting or seeking your commission as an officer. I can also understand what you mean about finishing your degree without stopping in the middle, or risk never returning to school. I'm the same way.

Have you visited your recruiter yet? It might be a good idea to do so as soon as possible to find out what your options are and get pointed in the right direction. With your education you should definitely be looking for an officers' commission. You can do all the preliminary work in advance, so that upon completion of your degree you can immediately begin your military career.

You do not have to wait until you finish school to do so. My nephew is graduating from High School in June and is already enlisted in the Marines. He leaves for boot three days after graduation. He has been in the Army Jr. ROTC program at NBHS for the last 3 years and has undergone a great deal of training.

Last summer he went on a two week training exercise, which included rapelling from helicopters on Cape Cod. He was very excited about his experience, and got alot out of his summer manuevers.

My son is a freshman in H.S. and is also in the Jr. ROTC program, although I admittedly am trying to persuade him to apply to the USCG Acadamy, or at least look into the Air Force or Navy, and stay away from the Army or Marines. He is my youngest, and my only son. He is also my father's only grandson; my only sister has 2 girls; I have no brothers, nor paternal cousins. Like any man, I want very much for him to carry on my family name, and he is the only male offspring on my father's side, other than me.

Again, I commend you on your degree and your stated intention to serve in the military. I wish you well in both endeavors and will keep a good thought for your safety.

Respectfully,

Jim

Henry,

I have called Bush a liar as well, but you only directed your reply to Val. Am I an agent of Al-Queda, Henry?

When did Clinton bomb Iraq? I am not being sarcastic nor do I doubt it for a minute, I am seriously asking a question. When did that happen? I am not certain that he did so to stop the production of WMD's, but rather may have done so in enforcing the no-fly zone, or in response to some other action by Hussein against the Kurds for example.

The problem with Bush and the intel in question was not that Bush lied about the intel that he was using to make his case. No one is suggesting that he did not have the intel he claimed to be basing his case upon. The problem is that I, and others, many others, believe that Bush influenced the information contained in that intel, that he and others knew much of the intel was outdated and inaccurate, and that he embraced it, and manipulated it, and used it to suit his purpose, and ignored any evidence or suggestion to the contrary, in order to take us prematurely into a conflict which was politically convenient for him and others. Anyone who questioned or doubted the information that he wanted to see, or who furnished any information which raised any such doubts or contradictions, was ignored or dismissed.

Kerry and others only saw the intel that Bush and the administration allowed them to see. Kerry and others did not vote to go to war, they voted to authorize the President to use force if and when other measures proved fruitless. They certainly did not vote to do so on that timetable, or under those conditions. They were under the understanding that more would be done before using force and they trusted Bush to use his authority wisely. He abused that trust and acted rashly, and we are now paying the price for his rush to war.

The difference is that you trust him and believe he has acted in good faith, while I and others disagree. I don't trust him, and I don't believe he has acted in good faith. He found evidence to support the outcome he wanted, and ignored evidence or doubts to the contrary. He failed to act in a fair and unbiased manner, to conduct a fair and unbiased investigation. I don't believe that he did not know better than what he used to make his case, and that he did not give other measures a fair opportunity to prove otherwise. I do not believe his motives are or were pure, or that he had no choice but to use force when he did.

Having grown up in the 60's I remain very skeptical of the government. Perhaps that is from growing up during the years of political assassinations, (JFK, MLK, RFK), the Vietnam War, and real political scandals and government cover-ups, like Watergate, the Iran/Contra affair, Abscam, etc., not tawdry, meaningless media smear campaigns and witch hunts, conducted for political reasons, like Whitewater and Monica-gate. I tend to be very distrustful of men like Bush, who repeatedly tell the people the sky is orange, and who take us to war, only to find out that the sky, is in fact, blue after all.