balthazar

>>"The duty of the President is to protect Constitution. Protecting the U.S. is part of that duty. Bush has done plenty to protect the U.S. while simultaneously trashing the Constitution. Yes, I see a distinction. "<< So where do you disagree with defending the U.S.? >>"Palin: I agree that a president's job, when they swear in their oath to uphold our Constitution, their top priority is to defend the United States of America."<< Where was the defending the Constitution specifically brought up, and where did Palin refute the veracity of doing so? To my eye, you are putting a great degree of partisan specificity into her answer. From your wiki link: >>>These principles are sometimes referred to as the Bush Doctrine although the term is often used to describe other elements of Bush policy and is not universally recognized as the single concept.<<< Which is why I stated that asking an open question about a group of various ideals, then definining a specific component of that is 'laying a trap'.

>>"Average people fire a guy because he wont punish their sister's estranged husband?"<< Anybody bother look into the specifics in this case, or are you all just a bit too eager to add another arrow to your Democrat quivver? TIMELINE You talk as if Wooten was some sort of humanitarian model officer, instead of a multiple-reprimand, drunk-driving, child-tasering, murder-threatening, loose cannon with a badge. All 4 of his marriages have ended in divorce- no doubt he's always the soft-spoken, humble father he appears to be when the camera is on & his union rep is at his side. Look at the guy- he's 4 feet wide: imagine the confrontations between him, his trooper ego & his wife- no doubt amicable... so the domestic abuse restraining order is a real puzzler. His actions more than justified his ass getting fired (which it wasn't), yet a mere 10 day suspension for --it can't be for threating to shoot his father-in-law; why was that ignored?-- was, of course, challenged by the police union and knocked down to 5 days. Wow, what a victory for public safety. Monegan's job as public safety comissioner was an appointed cabinet position under the governor. In other words, he served at her discretion. What portion of his refusal to fire Wooten (Palin never directed Monegan to fire Wooten, only suggested it) was sourced from himself being an ex-officer/ police union member? Does a 5-day suspension for all Wooten's transgressions really serve the public's interest? Does not Monegam's failed judgement of these events & refusal to remove a dangerous cop play a part in his evaluated ability to perform his job as PSC? Palin did her job justly, IMO. Sure, there probably was a degree of emotion involved on Palin's part, sourced from direct knowledge of the situation, but this pales in comparison to the big picture: public safety. And yes, that rightfully includes Wooten's family, regardless of their relationship with Palin. If Monegan could not reasonably perform his duty as public safety commissioner responsible for ensuring that, he should not hold the position.

One would think the liberal Dems would applaude Alaska, after all; doesn't the tiny AIP merely wish to separate from the 'maddness that is the 'Bush Doctrine' ' ?? Regardless; it'll never happen. IMO, it's more of a voice raised looking for change & improvement (tho I admit I have not yet looked into the AIP's 'platform'). I also see no driving reason to add PR as a state- the U.S. also claims the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and another 10 islands as territories, should someone start working on "new, fresh" flags with everything from 51 to 65 stars ?? Me, I fly the 48-star flag at my house. Perhaps it's a secret signal to those like-minded separationists in my town, but I'll never tell.

I did not see the Gibson interview (working), but from the quoted conversation above, can anyone not see the trap Gibson was laying (not that Palin fell into it at all): asking a question using loose, individually-interpretable terminology ("Bush doctrine"), then defining the term after the answer. Not exactly ethical, but it was a reporter, after all. >>"Palin: I agree that a president's job, when they swear in their oath to uphold our Constitution, their top priority is to defend the United States of America."<< >>"Oldsmoboi: Actually, the first priority is to defend the constitution of the United States. Palin doesn't even know the oath she is supposed to swear."<< She was not asked to quote the specifics of what she was going to swear to in the election process. "Top" is not the same as "first", anyway. Semantics aside, are you disagreeing that defending the U.S.A. is a top priority ??

AAS- >>"Totally agree with everything, except the "it's work Americans can't do" part."<< Well, by "can't" I mean if in the industry, they usually cannot afford to lower their income to illegals' levels.

Roosevelts words; so true. It is why I refuse to use "***-American" labels, it's segregational & race-centric PC BS. If you are a citizen, you are an American. Done. Ethnic origin is the answer to a different question. You want to be treated the same as the mainstream RE opportunities/wages? Assimilate and work your ass off. >>"...gardener? More like fast food worker around here. Or construction. "<< I'm in construction, and I've seen immigrant labor. How about entire load-bearing walls where the studs don't touch the sill plate and instead float an inch high on 12 nails? Basement walls that crack before the house is even framed or are off-level by 2 inches corner-to-corner? You want this sh!t work in your house? It's there, thanks to dirt-cheap labor that cannot communicate. Today's homes (and I work in multi-million $ ones regularly) aren't as well built as a house even 20 years old, but much like modern cars, everyone is told they're fantastic & better than ever. 'Oh look; an 'appliance garage!' My brother's house is a '36, we've torn into it, it's a rock- no corners cut anywhere. >>"Why not go take their jobs, so that none are left to offer them?"<< With no taxes to pay and a 3rd world economic history, they take whatever pay they're offered and don't even think about protesting. Are you willing to underbid them? When presented with quality work done right, and 1/2 the labor cost, which do you think too many employers go for? Unlike the theory in the car industry, here 'more competition' is only lowering the bar, not raising it. It's not 'work Americans won't do', it's 'work Americans can't do for 40 cents on the dollar'.

Dark day for the nation. My wife was a few blocks away- I didn't hear from her until about 3PM. I thought I had lost her.

One of the 1st-to-last track consistantly great, classic rock albums: Let There Be Rock - AC/DC.

>>"Biden said (to paraphrase) that after he's seen the way Obama has handled his campaign so competently, and how he has endured all the stresses placed on him with Reverend Wright, and all the other silliness, and after he has read his policy proposals, he now feels that Obama is ready and that he underestimated him before. Biden addressed this just a week or two ago."<< 'Handling a campaign' is nothing compared to being a president, as much as BO wishes it was. It's meaningless, about-face, vested-interest party spin from 2 career politicians (Biden: '72, Clinton: '78)(BTW: Obama: 143 actual days 'in office' as a U.S. Senator). The points are (or SHOULD be), not how Barry has handled the many controversies and skeletons, but the fact that they are there in the first place! 'He has addressed the monsterous gaps in his judgement & dark, worrisome anti-American associations well; he's fully greased to be a slip-n-slide president.' Just great.

Good point Camino, and agreed... but that would require good judgement and an ability to think on one's feet.

>>"And as has been pointed out here in this thread, and in just about every article on the topic, immigrants tend not to learn English, but their children do."<< It's been 'pointed out' without example or substantiation. Sixty8 immigrated- how come he speaks English instead of just his daughter? Guy I know immigrated from the Ukraine, he learned English here. All the relatives in my family tree that immigrated ALL learned English- why didn't they fold their arms and just let their children learn it instead? Ahh, because you were talking about Mexican immigrants, weren't you? Why is there a very real difference between European immigrants & Mexican? IMO, it's because they are enabled by the bi-linguistics, so many are illegal and unwilling to risk discovery, and they are so great in number, they can exist in their own sub-communities of like enthnicities. >>"and you don't want them coming into the country "illegally,""<< Croc- are you actually FOR illegal immigration ??

Generally, I can get behind #2-4. But #1 seemingly assumes there are rational, sensical people across all the 'world tables', and removing implied threat & sanctions & troops would result in the wacka-doos simply going into their backyards and barbequeing with their families. Unfortunately they have sworn, and are religiously mandated to kill us if they get/make the chance. Only the most naive think Achmadenijad is going to happily follow along with a stammered, stuttered pleading to disarm.

That's very nice of you to say, bud (to the point of getting sloppy ). To tell the truth, my (very low) interest in new/modern cars is kinda inexplicable; there's so little passion (and SO MUCH plastic), I primairily linger 'to fight factual injustice'. Was over an aquaintence's house last night; he just chopped the top on a '41 Plymouth 2-dr sedan be bought. Even with no fenders, no grille/front fascia, no brightwork, no interior, it was still infinitely more interesting than -say- the 25th variation-on-a-theme '09 mercedes whatchamacallalphanumeric. The rear seat back was hinged at the top, and the lower seat cushions (split) folded up behind the seatback, to open up cargo space on the floor. And you thought flip/fold seats were something recent. It's all been done before, and always much more interestingly so.

>>""Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America," Biden said. "Let’s get that straight. She’s a truly close personal friend; she is qualified to be president of the United States of America. She’s easily qualified to be vice president of the United States of America and quite frankly it might have been a better pick than me, but she is first-rate.”"<< Biden again, on Barry : "I think he can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training." But after being picked, suddenly something radically had changed, perhaps Barry had completed a mountain of at-home Presidency Prep courses unbeknownst to Biden, because Biden gushed about Barry at the DNC (duh). So which is the truth: the independant opinion, or the vested-interest opinion? Bill Clinton did the very same thing- he stated BO was not ready in a PBS interview in Dec '07, that he would be "a risk" and "I don't want a president who's never made a mistake and never had to correct one". Of course, at the DNC he did the typical 180. Which is the truth here ?

>>"Times change. Get used to it. You can either adapt and move with it, or you can get angry and pissed off while clinging to the past like Archie Bunker. Your choice."<< Why is 'change it' not an option ?? That's my choice. We are supposed to just live with every lousy situation that comes along ?? Maybe the U.S. Gov can print up sister brochures to the Mexican Gov ones for the illegals once they belly-crawl into this country, add turnstiles, hot dogs & balloons at the border. Let's all 'live with it'. No, in reality we are being overrun and allowing it. It only makes us look weak that we cannot bond together or even talk to each other. Willful social segregation. English is the mainstream, majority language of the U.S. as it's always been; whether it is officially declared so or not in the near future, nothing would change either way; signs could still remain bi where deemed 'neccesary', but one thing that would & should change: English would be the first language you'd see, and the default language used. 75 years ago products & advertising in this country were not presented in bi-lingual formats. Learning English was both a survival neccessity and a sense of pride for the immigrant. Maybe B&Eing into this country is a hallmark of the type of person who doesn't give a sh!t, but with all this sickening liberal bullsh!t bi-lingual bullsh!t (and it's NOT just products, the Gov is guilty here, too), not only is there apparently no pride in becoming an American, there's no need to either. Hell, when there's 20,000,000 of your countrymen here already, who needs to become a part of any community but one's own ??

>>"If you follow Congress, it's more like the Republicans won't compromise with the Democrats. Look at where all the political noise (fillibusters, protests, etc) has come from--hint, it isn't the D's."<< Who literally turned out the lights on proceedings, then voted with their majority to take a month & a half vacation with gas @ $4 per while many from the other party have continued working? Who has steadfastly proclaimed that more drilling would do absolutely nothing & take 10 years doing it, that inflating tires would result in saving as much oil as could be gotten from new drilling, and has recently changed that stance to 'consider it, but limited'? Who has made a point of turning every interview & sound bite into a Bush bash-fest, issues be damned, as if GWB was somehow running for another term? Who has led the most inactive, most unproductive Congress in 20 years? The Dems.

Growing up, we had a dog. Since then (now married), we've had 2 in-house cats. Hoover we had to put down last spring, he was 16. Rallye (named after my Charger) was put down years ago. I like all animals, but I have no desire whatsoever to ever live with any again. Sorry to say, I just do not have room/time in my life right now for them.

>>"No one can spend as out of control as Republicans"<< BO has proposed over $1T in new spending out on the trail. He has also co-signed (w/ Biden) the World Povery Act, tentatively proposing to send another $845B overseas over the next 13 years. Great- I guess that's a monster FU to this country's infrastructure. How much would that accomplish towards energy independance ?? Add to that any claim to balance or even reduce the budget... and where, again, is that money going to come from? Donate enough, moltar, and you can drop yourself into a lower brakcet and save under obama- feel free to do so. Me, I don't feel the 4-year risk of inexperience & radical views is worth a $281 bribe. That said, I heard that a staggering 2 of the bills BO endorsed in his sparse, actual time 'in the office', out of 152, were actually made into law. Wonder if that's any indicator on how much "change" he'll be able to impliment, even with a huge Dem advantage. If it is, the OTC (Obama Tax Crush) isn't a worry after all.

>>"As much as we criticize newspapers and "old media", these institutions at least bring about a sense of professionalism and accountability, and they help democratic societies in ways that blogs and message boards alone cannot. "<< Problem there is, more & more 'news' sources (including internet) are getting their info from the same fewer & fewer sources; individual research & reporting is falling by the wayside due to costs & laziness. This results in the same 'facts' echoed & repeated, subconsciously reaffirming them via sheer volume. >>"Small government isn't the answer. Big government isn't the answer. Smarter government is the answer."<< Smaller, smarter gov is an even better answer. Has bloated beaurocracy EVER been an improvement? This is akin to a 'Hummer Government'.

Moltie is right- Hood ornament denotes Galaxie 500 / Galaxie 500XL / Galaxie 500 LTD, so does the rear horizontal chrome trim on the decklid. Custom & Custom 500s didn't have this trim. G500 XL & G500 LTD exterior differences must be extremely minor from the G500 beyond badging; my source doesn't list any (all seem to be interior differences). Movie car is a '65 Galaxie 500, because there were no 4-dr sedans in the XL or LTD series. 54A 4-dr sedan production: 171,886.

>>"...there have been a few races in Delaware that has been decided by one vote..."<< Understandable, what with a population of 35 people.

I'll bet you don't even notice your neighbors & co-corkers eyeing you suspiciously as you continue to stalk & case their vehicles, repeatedly categorizing & listing them on the internet in an answer to a question no one asked....

>>"Secondly if GM wanted to be fair and not pick one brand over the other in the truck world, it could create a whole new brand to represent GM's trucks, whatever that would be."<< The way this is worded makes no sense. If they were to avoid 'picking one over the other' by starting a new all-truck brand: 1. GM already has that with GMC, and 2. the result would be adding another brand. Do you want to give enzl a heart attack?? I have no problem with Buick/Pontiac being a 2-3 vehicle lineup each, reminds me of pre-'61 when that was the case (in effect). The contraction of the market is pushing things in that direction, I believe. The only arguement to keeping Chevy Truck at the expense of GMC is the brand sales ranking of Chevrolet. But it is still picking the 'lower class' & image truck, when the opposite is more prudent, IMO. I still advocate giving the 'people mover' trucks to Chevy and keeping the work & HD models at GMC. And the idea that any GM dealer could sell 'GMC's is makes good sense.

Was the impetus to give the convenience to motorists? If so, that was accomplished. Was the impetus to get millions in compensation? If so, that was offered (don't know from the trailer if that was accepted). Or was the impetus to get an ego-stroke of fame as an inventor? What's wrong is wrong, but without knowing the specifics and legalities at this point, this comes off as just another 'Big Nasty Evil Corporation Greedily Tromps On One Innocent Man' - a story we've all heard literally about a million times already. It just doesn't play anymore. I can tell you this: I'd happily accept $30M and go about my life and allow Ford to claim it- after all, everyone who works directly for Ford and invents features does the same for relative pennies. -- -- -- -- You know they must've considered "Intermittent Genius' as a title... -- -- -- -- >>"You can trace many of today's failures back to sources like this man's story."<< I prefer to "trace many of today's failures" right back to all the parents of the men who started all these car companies at the turn of the 20th Century. If only they had abstained that day/night, instead of givig birth to all the suffering, hardship and gut-wrenching embarassment all the future generations have had to endure ever since. But you're correct; the IntermittentGate IS one of the many twisted roots of The Decline & Fall of the American Auto Industry, and likely the reason the Volt isn't on it's 16th gen version since being introduced in '75.

Excellent point, loki; here "Equal" is a misnomer.