I am more convinced today than I was....

[liberty]

oh god, another joke team Jim? Can't republicans pick, you know, human beings, for their candidates?

Jeb Bush and Chris Christie wouldn't be a "joke team", Strop...

They would be quite formidable....

Jim, you are assuming that in 2016 we won’t be a Iranian protectorate. Once they get nukes all bets are off.

[Lord Jim]

Jim, you are assuming that in 2016 we won’t be a Iranian protectorate.

Yes lib, I am making that assumption...

I am prepared to boldly take the position that on the short list of things that might befall our republic, becoming an "Iranian protectorate" is probably not prominently among them....

[liberty]

Jim, you are assuming that in 2016 we won’t be a Iranian protectorate.

Yes lib, I am making that assumption...

I am prepared to boldly take the position that on the short list of things that might befall our republic, becoming an "Iranian protectorate" is probably not prominently among them....

If Iran was instead NAZI Germany would you still be willing to make the same assumption. Any government that would line up twelve year olds and heard them into a minefield to clear mines like sheep is brutal enough to be capable of anything.

[Gob]

Iranian law prohibits the recruitment of those under 16, basing itself on the Koranic traditions about war. However, the state broke those rules by the middle of the Iran-Iraq War. However, as nationalism and anger to the Iraqi invasion spread, some children (along with old men) volunteered for the Basij militia, often from areas destroyed by the Iraqi invasion. All were volunteers, oftentimes more passionate about their cause than their adult counterparts, and were mostly over 13 years of age.

In 1984, Iranian President Ali-Akbar Rafsanjani said, "all Iranians from 12 to 72 should volunteer for the Holy War." Some child soldiers even wore keys around their necks to signify their coming entrance into heaven. Ettelaat, an Iranian daily, reported, "Before entering the minefields, the children wrap themselves in blankets and they roll on the ground, so that their body parts stay together after the explosion of the mines and one can carry them to the graves." However, most (but not all) of those stories were really myths, propaganda, or embellished stories, and the child soldiers simply fought alongside their adult counterparts, often in Basij RPG or mine clearing teams.

A small number of schoolchildren currently serve in the ranks of the Basij, an Iranian paramilitary force, according to CSUCS, generally above the age of 16. They have reported that the state conscripts for the regular army at age 19- while accepting volunteers at age 16- and those at 17 can work for the police

[Sue U]

lib, if you're so panicked by the Iranians and the Chinese and the Germans and the Greeks and the Communists and the Muslims, it's a wonder you can get any sleep at all what with all the boogeymen under your bed.

[Lord Jim]

If Iran was instead NAZI Germany would you still be willing to make the same assumption. Any government that would line up twelve year olds and heard them into a minefield to clear mines like sheep is brutal enough to be capable of anything.

Lib, it doesn't matter how brutal they are, they are not capable of taking over the United States...

I have to say I really wonder where you get some of these ideas....

[Guinevere]

Shakes head in wonder . . .

Speaking of Lib, where has Scooter been hiding lately??

[Scooter]

I have been around, reading. I just haven't felt the need to post anything.

[Long Run]

I think you should be more optimistic, LJ, about tonight's vote. Polling in today's world, especially state polling, is far more art and less science. Everyone else should follow Dales optimism about the future, that whoever is elected there are enough grown-ups to force necessary policy choices to deal with our major problems.

[Andrew D]

If only one party would just win.

All-out win.

Then we could give that party its chance to do what it thinks is right. And then we would see what happens. And whatever happens would determine the result of the next election.

But what we have now is ongoing gridlock. The President is a Democrat, and the House of Representatives is controlled by the Republicans, and the Senate cannot function because of the filibuster.

Gridlock.

The Democrats can't get what they want. The Republicans can't get what they want.

Give one party or the other a try.

As between Obama and Romney, I think that my political preference is not a secret. But even if this election goes to Romney, which seems unlikely, where would we be?

Gridlock.

So there is my appeal to the American electorate: Put control of things in one party or the other. Whichever one you choose, go for it. If you're right, we will all know it. And if you're wrong we will all know it.

But the way we are going -- half a stimulus but not a whole stimulus, half a tax cut but not a whole tax cut, half a health-care plan but not a whole health-care plan -- is not leading to success.

Grab an option and run with it.

[Gob]

If only one party would just win.

All-out win.

Then we could give that party its chance to do what it thinks is right. And then we would see what happens. And whatever happens would determine the result of the next election.

That sounds sensible.

[liberty]

lib, if you're so panicked by the Iranians and the Chinese and the Germans and the Greeks and the Communists and the Muslims, it's a wonder you can get any sleep at all what with all the boogeymen under your bed.

I am not panicked; just be willing to die and you can avoid that fate. The Communist and the Germans (Nazi) are no longer a threat and the Greeks were never a threat to us that I know of. The Chinese are a potential future threat and how much a threat the Iranians are depends on if the ruling Mullahs are hypocrites are not. If they are willing to die and sacrifice Iran for Allah they are a supper thereat; nukes favour the crazy. If they are not willing to do that they are no more dangerous than the soviets and we can deal them by being MADder than they are. Don’t you just miss the good old days of the Cold War?

[Lord Jim]

You're absolutely right about the gridlock we are going to face for the next four years no matter who is elected, Andrew...

We haven't even had the election yet, and already a number of the Tea Party types in the House, (And I saw an analysis on the tube yesterday that predicted that the number of centrists in both parties in the House next session is likely to be even fewer than in this one.) have jumped up to say they will block any legislative initiatives Obama attempts, and Harry "Thank God For The Tea Party" Reid came out a couple of days ago and announced that Romney's agenda would be "Dead on arrival " in the Senate, if he is elected.

[dales]

"Don't blame me, I voted for McGovern"

[liberty]

If Iran was instead NAZI Germany would you still be willing to make the same assumption. Any government that would line up twelve year olds and heard them into a minefield to clear mines like sheep is brutal enough to be capable of anything.

Lib, it doesn't matter how brutal they are, they are not capable of taking over the United States...

I have to say I really wonder where you get some of these ideas....

Imagination Jim, as smart as you are I am sure you have some. How would you subvert the US and bring it down? How did Hitler do it in Central Europe prior WWII?

[dales]

Hitler declared "all out war" on the US and got his @ss kicked.

NAZI Germany was far more powerful and advanced compared to the US than Iran will ever be.

End of story.

[liberty]

Hitler declared "all out war" on the US and got his @ss kicked.

NAZI Germany was far more powerful and advanced compared to the US than Iran will ever be.

End of story.

Nukes are great equalizers.

[dales]

[Crackpot]

If only one party would just win.

All-out win.

Then we could give that party its chance to do what it thinks is right. And then we would see what happens. And whatever happens would determine the result of the next election.

But what we have now is ongoing gridlock. The President is a Democrat, and the House of Representatives is controlled by the Republicans, and the Senate cannot function because of the filibuster.

Gridlock.

The Democrats can't get what they want. The Republicans can't get what they want.

Give one party or the other a try.

As between Obama and Romney, I think that my political preference is not a secret. But even if this election goes to Romney, which seems unlikely, where would we be?

Gridlock.

So there is my appeal to the American electorate: Put control of things in one party or the other. Whichever one you choose, go for it. If you're right, we will all know it. And if you're wrong we will all know it.

But the way we are going -- half a stimulus but not a whole stimulus, half a tax cut but not a whole tax cut, half a health-care plan but not a whole health-care plan -- is not leading to success.

Grab an option and run with it.

you mean like 4 years ago? Or 4 years before that?

[Long Run]

If only one party would just win.

All-out win.

Then we could give that party its chance to do what it thinks is right. And then we would see what happens. And whatever happens would determine the result of the next election.

you mean like 4 years ago? Or 4 years before that?

Exactly, Obama had complete control 4 years ago, with both the House and the Senate in solid D-control (including a filibuster proof majority in the Senate). The D's over-reached, like they and the R's have in the past when they have control, and got rebuked at the first opportunity (Scott Brown and the 2010 elections).