BJean

Sew. Buttons. I'm surprised that you would question that I was just making an attempt at humor. You didn't really buy into the fact that I'm basically a nice person, eh? Your bad. I really am. Aren't you?

I was merely trying to be humorous. Far be it from me to actually jab a person. :thumbup: Especially a person with whom I share a peace treaty. Uh oh, did we forget to smoke the pipe?

As it is I guess I'm only depressed part of the time. lol

Negative Nelly. If I felt that way about the world I would be seriously depressed all the time.

Are you just making a random comment patty or are you misunderstanding my post and trying to correct me?

I've heard shrinks say that when a person has an affair they are completely self-possessed and not thinking about others. His performance at his news conference was really all about him, even when he was saying he owed his wife and boys an apology. It was actually all about him and how it was making him feel. If he were really concerned about them, he would not have chosen to stand up and say the things he did. I am sure that the reason he did is because he knew the emails were about to surface. But seeing an email and hearing your own dad say it outloud in front of millions of people are two different things. Beth you've put your own spin on what I said. Democrats can't be lumped into a clump of folks who lie about affairs or even have them. The only lumping I did was to point out that some of the people who have been the most vocal about embracing family values and having high standards of morality are the ones who have been caught lately making themselves public liars. We all know that Bill Clinton lied. Now we know Sanford did. But please don't paint all Democrats with that brush and I won't paint all Republicans with the brush of hypocrisy.

It really helps to be able to read and post about this with the people who also enjoyed knowing Green. I too have been surprised at how close I feel to some of the people at LBT! I guess it explains why I come here every day. Thank you on behalf of Green's family for all your wonderful comments. What a nice tribute to such a very special person.

Well that's funny because I guess you're saying that because some of the neo-cons got caught and didn't lie about it, it's okay. Is that right? That assumption is no different than you saying that Democrats aren't all about family values and high morals. Okay yeah. Dems are all about devil worship and sinning and immorality. That's what's do funny about the right wing. They believe that if you don't preach, you don't believe. And if you don't preach, you are probably out fornicating. And if you don't pass judgment on others, you must have inferior morals. That's the hyprocrisy of the whole thing that makes people get all upset with them. I can't lump Dems all in the same boat, nor can I lump all Republicans in the same boat. But it's the extremists who want to run the Republican party that are causing the uproar. They're the ones who keep getting caught with their pants down. And by golly, they deserve to be raked over the coals for being such hypocrites.

That's right Beth, no one ever heard a thing about Bill Clinton's antics. I use the term antics, but that doesn't do what either of them did any kind of justice. One reason that you hear so much about some of the Republican politicians affairs is because they are the ones who run on rethoric claiming they're all about family values and high moral standards. They're the ones who do call our attention to the immoral behavior of a man like Bill Clinton on the Democratic side and in his case, didn't stop until they pressed Congress into the impeachment process.

Anyone up for discussing the antics of the righteous Governor of South Carolina? How about Rush Limbaugh's claim that he could have been the Republican's John Kennedy? The gov is supplying lots of discussion material folks, or are the neo-cons staying in bed today with the covers pulled over their heads?

Yeah, Rick Perry's a nut. Not to take anything away from the Vermontonians, of course.

Help, help, somebody save me!!! Somebody start a thread on the governor of South Carolina's schenannigans so I can say something mean and crude.

I do understand the reason behind limiting the amount of money that people who are on S.S. can draw when they are still working. The huge number of babyboomers who are going to start being eligible for S.S. benefits is looming. Perhaps the alternative suggestion that some people have made, that those with a decent retirement income in place should not draw S.S. benefits, is an alternative. I think I would be in favor of that it if were an elective process not a required one. I can't name anyone I know right off hand who would choose to participate in that act of charity though. 1) most people are too greedy and 2) why give up money that you paid in during your many years of hard work? The problems that come with aging have never been adequately addressed and so many things need to be handled better. It is all overwhelming and very, very difficult to resolve. As I get older (um, just had a birthday) and as I watch our parents age and am called upon to resolve many issues with them, I realize that we really need to get a handle on all this before I get there. Taking away S.S. benefits might have sounded like a good idea 15 years ago, but today... don't touch the program, dude. As for the breakfast program, I see your point. You're right, once again I wasn't understanding what you were saying. If a program isn't taking care of the problem is was designed to fix, then it isn't doing its' job, eh? Yup, lightning may strike - I'm way too agreeable - probably that darned birthday and my continued brain and body deterioration. You know after age 30, the decaying process has begun in earnest. On that light note, guess I better get to work so I can pay my taxes and get my S.S. withholding paid in. Time is of the essence!

Gosh Joan I didn't mean to sound insulting... I just can't come up with any reason for your link with LB threads to be so fouled up. It's gotta be frustrating! I have to confess that I am the last person to ask about these things though. I'm lucky to manage simple posting. Not a computer wiz, by a long, long shot! I was simply trying to empathize. Hang in there!

Obviously totally agree with your assessment of N. Korea and China pulling the strings. If only we would all stop buying things made in China. Of course if we did that, we wouldn't have any stuff to buy. I was shocked one day when I decided to look through WalMart and Target and find Amerian-made merchandise. Couldn't find one thing in either store that was made in the U.S.A. Not a very scientific study, but it made a big impression on me. Now I always look at labels on everything. It is disappointing to realize that even things that are packaged in the U.S. are often manufactured in China or thereabouts. Yes, the middle east is a big threat to the U.S., but you do understand that North Korea is a supplier of bad stuff to them, right? Read an interesting book about Israel bombing a plant in Iran that was disguised and secretly manufacturing a nuclear weapon. Quite an intriguing story. Seemed pretty credible although it was a work of fiction. I love Israel and have always admired their strength and tenacity. I do have some empathy for the Palestinians in some ways. But if I had to choose between the two peoples right to exist in the region, my choice would be clear. Our support of Israel is complicated and extremely important, of course. What the heck? Am I actually now agreeing with plain? I need to go pump some Iron and find my brass ovaries.

Peace and love to all of youse. You peeps make my day! Seriously. As for North Korea, dudes, what's up with that? Do you think that this whole trash going on in Iran is some kind of diversion? Do you think they are in cahoots? I mean I guess we know they are to some extent, but geez, this is all rather odd. I mean if there were any way that N. Korea could somehow slide past our intelligence, and actually fire a weapon of some sort at Hawaii, what do you think would happen? Gives me goose bumps. And not in a good way.

So plain, you look at the seniors who get Social Security benefits as welfare cheats - people who simply do nothing and the tax payers support them for no good reason? As for the breakfast program, I didn't understand you completely until you clarified your comments. Thanks for that. I believe what you're saying is that perhaps it really is a program that is run efficiently, but it just isn't fair to everyone who may need it.

Well patty, since you're the only person in the country who is as positive as you are about government finances, why didn't they just call you? You've been listening to too much right wing propaganda, IMHO. I'm not saying you have some points about over-spending, but for all the rest, I'm afraid I don't have much confidence in you over the folks who are trying to actually fix things.

That put a smile on my face too, patty!

Patty, we've had a "hands-off" approach when it comes to business in this country. Are you unaware of what part THAT played in the mess that Obama inherited? And if you think that things were running smoothly and the economy was in good shape when the new president took over, you have short term memory loss. I don't have a quarrel with keeping spending within limits. But what the president has been trying to do is to save the economy. It was not improving. It was tanking. And no one knew for sure if what the politicians proposed would solve the problem or even improve it. Nearly every financial wizard in this country recommended and supported what Bush proposed and what both he and Obama agreed to. Actually the jury is still out, but what we've learned is that things were actually even worse than we thought they were. You can bellyache all you want and point fingers at the man who is currently in the drivers seat, but I believe that we should give it a chance and continue to learn from our mistakes as well as our successes. This economy is a tricky business and it is teetering a bit more everyday. All the doom and gloom doesn't do much for getting us out of this mess. In fact, confidence in our ability to recover and some confidence in our government would be a big step in improving the economy.

Oh I agree, that's a good analogy. But if all you've ever done is seen the word "airplane" you wouldn't know much about it, would you? Social Security was never, ever meant to be the total income for retired people. It was intended to supplement retirees income. The fact that people do rely on it as their only source of income doesn't mean that it is a poorly run program. We were talking about programs that are run well. Not whether they are fabulous programs or not. Of course you disagree with the breakfast program. You don't want our government dishing out money to schools for children who don't have food. It means you might have to pay more in taxes. I do see your point.

Joan there's some phantom something or other going on with your computer link up, I guess. You do know to advance to the next page at the bottom of each page, don't you?

I disagree. Congress doesn't run the programs. But they have been known to raid one program to fund another.

What a bag of wind. We had a great thing going until he came along. In spite of Jerry, Jimmy Johnson was quite a thrill. He was at O-State for a while. When he was in Miami, we saw a game and swore that his boys were hopped up on a little someum' someum' ya know what I mean? Even the fans were rabid and drunk. We took off our OU colors before we got pounded. But he was a winning coach, ya know?

patty: What was the population of this country when the founding fathers worked their magic? What was the standard mode of travel? How did they get across great rivers and the great divide? If it were only as simple as you'd like to make it, we'd all be very happy campers. It just is not that simple when there are so many people who comprise such a vast area of land. Problems come up and they must be solved for the good of the state and the good of the people. It absolutely would never get done if we all just chose up sides and donated a few bucks. If you prefer living in a country like you suggest, why don't you find a little island and live there? If you want to be an American, and you want to live here, don't you want it to be better? It won't be better if everyone just decides to stop paying their taxes. And it is disengenuous to say that everything can be run on donations. I get that you resent welfare. I get that you think that there are too many people who depend on it their whole lives. Why don't you get involved in revising the programs instead of just making the claim that they're unfair because you have to help pay for them. Someone also seemed to be suggesting that black people and Indians are primarily the ones on welfare in this country. I think that there are more white people on welfare than any other race in this country but that may depend wholly on which programs you are researching.