Ok so I love polls. And I love politics. So what political party has the most lapband recipient votes? We'll soon find out!!

P.S. to answer your question, yes, I do feel you were lucky that your father wasn't killed in the war. The fact that he subsequently died is no reason not to feel fortunate that he didn't die on the battlefront.

I am sorry for your loss. I have had to suffer the loss of both of my parents so I do have some idea of how it feels to lose a parent.

Elena please don't think that because you and I disagree on the subjects of war and politics that I think you don't have good reasons for what you believe. I am quite certain that you do. Your viewpoint is just as valid as mine and your experiences are just as important to your viewpoint as my experiences are to mine.

I haven't felt the need to list the reasons why I have come to feel the way I do about Bush, the war and politics. It is complicated and lengthy. It wouldn't change anything with regard to your experiences and your beliefs.

I am happy to not debate the issues any further. But I appreciate the opportunity to have been able to voice my opinion. I am glad, very glad that you were able to tell us about your opinions and experiences. I found them to be very important and very interesting.

Hope you have a good weekend.

BJean, I sincerely thank you very much too. It was a good debate.... but I felt that by keeping the debate going, it would get too complicated...and you are right, listing those reasons would've definitely gotten very lengthy .....and from my side too....lol!

All your posts sounded very honest, and specially your last post to me... those words came across very, very sincere and I do appreciate that very much. I'm also happy to have voiced my opinion and my intention was also to respect yours, I think that it's just pretty normal that we all get very passionate about what we believe... ultimately I know that we both have the best intentions in our hearts and that's what counts. Thank you again and you also have a nice weekend.

Elena

P.S. to answer your question, yes, I do feel you were lucky that your father wasn't killed in the war. The fact that he subsequently died is no reason not to feel fortunate that he didn't die on the battlefront.

I am sorry for your loss. I have had to suffer the loss of both of my parents so I do have some idea of how it feels to lose a parent.

Thank you JBean... you are right, if he would've passed in the battlefront, I wouldn't be here..... but I still don't feel so lucky though.....LOL!

Of course you're right about not feeling "lucky".

Thanks for allowing me to get to know you a little. It is nice to discuss this topic with someone who has some first hand knowledge of living under an oppressive regime and to try to understand your feelings about it.

Given my background, I'm honestly doing the best that I can. I appreciate your attempt to understand me too.

Of course you're right about not feeling "lucky".

Thanks for allowing me to get to know you a little. It is nice to discuss this topic with someone who has some first hand knowledge of living under an oppressive regime and to try to understand your feelings about it.

Given my background, I'm honestly doing the best that I can. I appreciate your attempt to understand me too.

Well, you did excellent defending your point..I think you did much better than me! you have no idea how ackward I think my writing is... debating is a new thing for me too, and I think I do poorly...LOL! sorry about that and thank you for trying to understand me too.. and please know that I DO understand your point, I really do.

Elena

I feel a group hug coming on..... !! Now, isn't that better??

One of the things I like about you, BJean, is that no matter how heated things get in our debates, you always help end them in a nice way, and we all get to leave with the feeling that we now understand the other side a little better. Thank you!

P.S. Elena, you have no reason to question your debate style... you do just fine and express from your heart. Keep it going!

I agree, Elena, thank you for the reminder. It gets so easy to lose things in all the media hype. There was even a video recently on Youtube of Al Gore chastising Pres. Bush #1 about not going in and finishing off Saddam because of the dangers his WMD posed to our country. That was in 1992. How soon we forget!

So much that goes on is pure politics. in 1994, Cheney was against going in:

http://www.infowars.com/articles/iraq/cheney_video_1994_warning_of_iraq_invasion_quagmire.htm

“Here is the transcript. The YouTube address is at the end.

*

Q: Do you think the U.S., or U.N. forces, should have moved into Baghdad?

A: No.

Q: Why not?

A: Because if we'd gone to Baghdad we would have been all alone. There wouldn't have been anybody else with us. There would have been a U.S. occupation of Iraq. None of the Arab forces that were willing to fight with us in Kuwait were willing to invade Iraq.

Once you got to Iraq and took it over, took down Saddam Hussein's government, then what are you going to put in its place? That's a very volatile part of the world, and if you take down the central government of Iraq, you could very easily end up seeing pieces of Iraq fly off: part of it, the Syrians would like to have to the west, part of it -- eastern Iraq -- the Iranians would like to claim, they fought over it for eight years. In the north you've got the Kurds, and if the Kurds spin loose and join with the Kurds in Turkey, then you threaten the territorial integrity of Turkey.

It's a quagmire if you go that far and try to take over Iraq.

The other thing was casualties. Everyone was impressed with the fact we were able to do our job with as few casualties as we had. But for the 146 Americans killed in action, and for their families -- it wasn't a cheap war. And the question for the president, in terms of whether or not we went on to Baghdad, took additional casualties in an effort to get Saddam Hussein, was how many additional dead Americans is Saddam worth?

Our judgment was, not very many, and I think we got it right.”

Yup, interesting, isn't it? Bush #1 and Cheney didn't think we should continue in Iraq after the Gulf War, and Al Gore and other Democrats thought we should have.

I think because of the talk throughout the following years about Saddam's WMD, his defiance of 17 U.N. resolutions to come clean about it, and then 9/11, it became justifiable to take out Saddam in many people's minds. At least on the Republican side.....

Hey...even Monica Lewinski is voting republican now......the democrats left a bad taste in her mouth! add the ***drum drum symbol crash!!!

Hey...even Monica Lewinski is voting republican now......the democrats left a bad taste in her mouth! add the ***drum drum symbol crash!!!

:high5: :dance:

DEMOCRAT, I dont care if the nominee has an eye in the middle of their forehead I am voting DEMOCRAT.

Metal: Not to make light of what you made light of... but uh I'd be really surprised if Monica votes Republican after what they did to her. They screwed her much more royally than Billy did with that cigar.

Metal: Not to make light of what you made light of... but uh I'd be really surprised if Monica votes Republican after what they did to her. They screwed her much more royally than Billy did with that cigar.

Monica, should have not talked with her mouthful and no one would have known.

Good point!

Wow! This could be a hot page. I am a teacher and a conservative. i see so much waste from the social programs and have for 21 years. I was so broke my first year and could not afford the HBO or showtime networks. 3/4 of my class was on free lunches and 1/2 my class had HBO or Showtime. I could go on and on about the waste and unfairness of social programs but you do not have the time to listen. I am tired of working to support other people that abuse these programs. My mother worked all her life, never had a college education. came from very poor background, and worked at low paying jobs all her life. She is now on social security and struggling. She cannot get near the help welfare people get. I help her instead. Something is very wrong with our welfare program.