tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post6821436688578390936..comments2024-03-28T01:33:22.764-04:00Comments on The DiploMad 2.0: The War on the Second Amendment: the Mental Health GambitDiploMadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02316439950882822419noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-4891339890640378132022-06-03T19:29:15.530-04:002022-06-03T19:29:15.530-04:00Well shut my mouth~~~
Bravo! to all 49 commentaros...Well shut my mouth~~~<br />Bravo! to all 49 commentaros<br />and a snappy hand salute to Dip,<br />for remembering where they were!<br />On Watch~~~<br /><br />"Let's Roll"<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-62289287608539621502014-06-01T22:07:32.535-04:002014-06-01T22:07:32.535-04:00Mine too!Mine too!whitewallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03469746790747742992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-50939801122439949062014-06-01T18:32:14.800-04:002014-06-01T18:32:14.800-04:00Sounds remarkably like my Aunt Vera's home imp...Sounds remarkably like my Aunt Vera's home improvement project for her yearly Canasta tournament.<br />James the LesserJameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13642228725661059539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-23566742551206378102014-06-01T18:28:54.738-04:002014-06-01T18:28:54.738-04:00This candidate Anon wouldn't happen to be you ...This candidate Anon wouldn't happen to be you would it?<br /><br />http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-the-2016-presidential-candidate-we-need/2014/05/23/77d599ae-e202-11e3-9743-bb9b59cde7b9_story.html<br /><br />"All modern presidents of both parties have been too much with us. Talking incessantly, they have put politics unhealthily at the center of America’s consciousness. Promising promiscuously, they have exaggerated government’s proper scope and actual competence ... So, sensible voters might embrace someone who announced his 2016 candidacy this way:<br /><br />"“I am ambling — running suggests unseemly ardor — for president. It is axiomatic that anyone who nowadays will do what is necessary in order to become president thereby reveals character traits, including delusions of adequacy and obsessive compulsive disorder, that should disqualify him or her from proximity to powers concentrated in the executive branch. Therefore, my campaign will initially consist of driving around the Obnoxiously Entitled Four — Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada — trying to interest their 3.8 percent of America’s population in a minimalist president.<br /><br />"Congress, defined by the Constitution’s Article I, is properly the first, the initiating branch of government. So, I will veto no bill merely because I disagree with the policy it implements. I will wield the veto power only on constitutional grounds — when Congress legislates beyond its constitutionally enumerated powers, correctly construed, as they have not been since the New Deal. So I expect to cast more vetoes than the 2,564 cast by all previous presidents.<br /><br />"A congenial society is one in which most people most of the time, and all politicians almost all of the time, say, when asked about almost everything: ‘This is none of my business.’ If as president I am asked what I think about the death of a rock star, or the imbecilic opinions of rich blowhards who own professional sports teams, I will say: ‘Americans should have no interest in my thoughts about such things, if I had any.’ I will try not to come to the attention of any television camera more than once a week, and only that often if I am convinced that I can speak without violating what will be my administration’s motto: ‘Don’t speak unless you can improve the silence.’ <br /><br />"I will not ruin any more American evenings with televised State of the Union addresses. I will mail my thoughts on that subject to Congress ‘from time to time,’ as the Constitution directs.<br /><br />"Finally, there have been 44 presidencies before the one I moderately aspire to administer, and there will be many more than 44 after it. Mine will be a success if, a century hence, Americans remember me as dimly as they remember Grover Cleveland, the last Democratic president with proper understanding of this office’s place in our constitutional order.”<br /><br />If that is you Anon - <i>you got my vote!</i><br /><br />ArkieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-25862073417482654742014-06-01T18:07:25.352-04:002014-06-01T18:07:25.352-04:00So whitewall, you been to Conway eh?
You I'm ...So whitewall, you been to Conway eh?<br /><br />You I'm betting know Little Rock is Arkansas' state capitol?<br /><br />I'm reckoning however you weren't the least bit aware you visited Arkansas' Capital of Crazy:<br /><br />"Management at a Conway hotel is claiming $50,000 in damages was caused early Saturday morning by a prank caller who may be responsible for similar attempts at phone-it-in vandalism throughout the state.<br /><br />"The bogus caller told the employee that there was a problem with the sprinklers and that she needed to "reset" them by pulling a nearby fire alarm, which the caller claimed to have deactivated for the purpose. When the audible alarm went off, the report reads, the caller told the employee to push the activation lever back to its original position, which he said would deactivate the alarm. It didn't, and the employee seems to have panicked.<br /><br />"The woman was told by the caller that the sprinkler system would soon activate throughout the hotel unless she started breaking the hotel's windows, which he said contained sensors that were connected to the alarm system. Believing the man and his claim that the entire hotel was about to flood, she started smashing windows in the lobby area.<br /><br />"[A] Missouri man, said he heard the alarm sounding while he was getting ready to take a shower. ... "The alarm goes off, so I went and got all my stuff and put it in the truck and came around the front entrance, and a fire extinguisher comes crashing through one of the windows in the front of the building," the guest said Monday.<br /><br />"The employees told him that there was a representative from the alarm company on the phone and the guest picked it up, said he had once been trained in emergency response as a former volunteer fireman and asked what needed to be done to help.<br /><br />"After breaking several windows and realizing that the alarm was not deactivated, (the guest) got back on the lobby phone with the caller," the CPD incident report reads. "The caller told (the guest) that he must reset the control panel for the system. (The guest) told the caller that water from the sprinkler was keeping him from reaching the panel. The caller then told (the guest) that he had to find the breaker box and shut down the power to the hotel."<br /><br />http://thecabin.net/stories/060909/loc_0609090001.shtml<br /><br />And don't even get me started on Springdale, the corporate headquarters of the World's Largest Chinese Flea Market.<br /><br />ArkieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-88812338296654203452014-06-01T17:57:31.227-04:002014-06-01T17:57:31.227-04:00Mental health is the avenue to gun confiscation..
...Mental health is the avenue to gun confiscation..<br /><br />http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/who-is-mentally-ill/Ralphhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18305077992774795335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-38487925473084555842014-06-01T16:10:54.663-04:002014-06-01T16:10:54.663-04:00If I'm elected -- Planned Riflehood -- univers...If I'm elected -- Planned Riflehood -- universal gun education in the public schools. Guns and sex have so much in common. Lots to love. Lots to learn.<br /><br />So remember in the fall, vote Anonymous!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-9647056498989359562014-06-01T09:33:23.062-04:002014-06-01T09:33:23.062-04:00Arkie...good googly moogly! I didn't know Arka...Arkie...good googly moogly! I didn't know Arkansas was so mixed up. Over the years I have been to many parts of it--Conway, Little Rock, Searcy, Ft. Smith, Texarkana, Springdale.....I even went to DeQueen- on purpose. Near Mena, don't you know.whitewallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03469746790747742992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-54211654526688683342014-06-01T09:12:05.795-04:002014-06-01T09:12:05.795-04:00Arkie: I wasn't talking about party affiliati...Arkie: I wasn't talking about party affiliation of any group of Americans. I was making an observation about the general condition of the United States during the 1950's. It was the era of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka and of Eisenhower's enforcing school desegregation.<br /><br />I believe that the Civil Rights movement was made possible in large part because increased prosperity raised expectations for everyone.<br /><br />Thanks for info on more recent events along the Mississippi. I lived in the southern end of Illinois for a number of years myself. Kephahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00999385775493831638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-38797845180388396912014-06-01T03:02:15.110-04:002014-06-01T03:02:15.110-04:00Michael K?
I had to do some deleting in my reply ...Michael K?<br /><br />I had to do some deleting in my reply of June 1, 0202 - went over the character limit. But in addition to paragraph 4 being in quotations add paragraphs 7, 8, 9 and 10 and then quotations again for paragraph 13.<br />___________________<br /><br />Now I full well realize that nowadays "Party Affiliation" indeed extending to appellations such as, for example "RINO" (and where Arkansas is concerned) labels even of the "DINO" variety frequently appear in our newspapers --- but, and this is not exclusively my observation, at least in parts of for damn certain Arkansas, but some other states in the South I frequent --- that "Party Affiliation" that gets all my FOX favorites all worked up is, to use a one word descriptor, <strong>Simplistic.</strong><br /><br />For instance we here in very especially northern Arkansas have a well worn saying I'm pretty sure most Democrats in the northeast and on the west coast - and a great many [especially of the Tea Party variety] Republicans simply cannot get their heads wrapped around:<br /><br /><strong>We elect Democrats to office and we expect them to legislate as Republicans.</strong><br /><br />It's most apparent at the local level, County and such but most people outside the state simply base their opinion of any of our State level pols by whether there's an R or a D after their name. Forgetting perhaps Benedict Arnold was a Forefather properly speaking.<br /><br />Arkansas you might not be aware of has "Balanced Budget" written right into the State Constitution. <br /><br />And that Balanced Budget thingy was mostly observed until one of "our own" (and his carpetbagger wife from Connecticut) managed to get elected to our Governorship & the only way we Arkies could figure out to be rid of him was to get the notion into his head he could get elected President of the US of The Whole Shebang.<br /><br />We didn't figure into our equationating that a Hick From The Sticks could ever possibly beat a seated incumbent GHW Bush.<br />________________________<br /><br />Apologies for the inconvenience.<br /><br />ArkieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-83880041306398488612014-06-01T02:02:15.840-04:002014-06-01T02:02:15.840-04:00"The Democrats exerted one-party rule into th..."The Democrats exerted one-party rule into the 1960s throughout most of the South."<br /><br />True generally speaking but not every southern state was Mississippi and Alabama. And I'm not sure the blacks of Desha County woulda cared anyway.<br /><br />"The African-American population of McGehee took an active part in the three men’s lynching."<br /><br />http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=7903<br /><br />As a result of that Delta & Mountain Democrats in Arkansas' House introduced and passed Anti-Lynching bills. Governor vetoed admittedly.<br /><br />But the Official History --- make no mistake here where my personal views are concerned but generally speaking when people from outside the region (and if you've attended to some few of my comments, you probably realize I'm an Equal Opportunity "Party Politics Establishment Style Basher") anyway, when people from Not-Arkansas just accept as <strong>Accepted Wisdom</strong> every Arkie Democrat was a Orval Faubus. And every school integration was a Central High.<br /><br />During the summer and autumn of 1955, proponents and opponents of school integration across America were watching “a battle in a test tube.” The scene of the “battle” was Hoxie (Lawrence County), a small community in the northeastern part of Arkansas. While not the earliest instance of desegregation in the state—Fayetteville (Washington County) and Charleston (Franklin County) were peacefully integrated the previous year—Hoxie’s attempt was the first to be met with active resistance.<br /><br />The superintendent of schools, Kunkel Edward Vance, had given three reasons for integration: it was “right in the sight of God,” it complied with the Supreme Court ruling and it saved money. Vance said all school facilities would be integrated, not just the classrooms, and on the morning of July 11, 1955, the black children came to the white Hoxie schools. No incidents occurred on the first day of integration, and from initial appearances, Hoxie was a successful effort.<br /><br />The Hoxie School Board forced the issue of racial integration into the courts by filing suit against the segregationist leaders both from Hoxie and elsewhere in the state. ... The segregationists appealed the decision to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.<br /><br />The segregationists’ setback at Hoxie was a turning point in their efforts to prevent integration in Arkansas. Because efforts to pressure the school board had failed, the strategy of segregationists changed. No longer would school boards be the primary target, but rather Arkansas politicians. [1957] Governor Faubus, rather than the local school board, was thrown into the spotlight ...<br /><br />http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=731<br /><br />Earlier I mentioned "Mountain Democrats"? Well actually the entirety of Mountain Whatever's are a contrary lot - and the trait goes back aways further than even the 1920s.<br /><br />The Arkansas Peace Society was a loose affiliation of local anti-Confederate groups that formed in response to Arkansas’s secession from the Union. These groups operated like secret societies in several north Arkansas counties until late in 1861, ... The Arkansas Peace Society was quickly broken up, though north Arkansas contributed approximately ninety percent of soldiers from the state who fought for the Union.<br /><br />http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=2821<br /><br />I think you'd be <strong>Michael K</strong> kinda impressed with just how much Tea Partying goes on in the northern third of Arkansas - too bad we got those other two thirds though.<br /><br />Arkie<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-78073486535217681442014-05-31T22:30:46.910-04:002014-05-31T22:30:46.910-04:00"Um, I don't know how many times I've..."Um, I don't know how many times I've seen conservatives post that government should keep guns out of the "wrong" hands (ex-felons, etc.), but it was an awful lot of them. I suspect that position has not been well thought out. Government never stops at a place that YOU think is reasonable."<br /><br />I daresay that the problem with that position is NOT that it can (and will) start us down a slippery slope of increasing the ranks of those disallowed to exercise their Second Amendment right. Instead, I think the problem is, as you say, that "that position has not been well thought out".<br /><br />In its essence, the argument is simply that some people should have their rights taken away regardless of the fact they have done no harm to anyone else's person or anyone else's rights. It is an argument based on perceived POTENTIAL to harm. It is not punishment; it is "pre-crime". This applies not only to the mentally ill, but also (again, as you mention) ex-cons who have already paid their "debt to society" in prison or on parole or probation.<br /><br />The position isn't wrong because it's the first step down a slippery slope. That first step, itself, is wrong. NO just society punishes individuals for crimes they have not (yet) committed. Anyone taking this position puts their alleged "conservatism" in serious question.<br /><br />Perhaps more disturbing are those persons (among them the favorably quoted Ann Coulter) who would not only use this "pre-crime" POTENTIAL to harm to limit who may legally own arms, but who would permanently incarcerate some individuals based on the proposition that they have increased POTENTIAL to commit violent crime. A punishment that, in modern America, is not always even imposed upon those who have ALREADY -- in actual fact -- committed murder. One can certainly be excused for thinking that, for those who make this argument, even Capital Punishment would not be too extreme for the select individuals that they have pre-determined to have a greater POTENTIAL to commit as-yet-uncommitted violent crimes.<br /><br />I wonder who else may have suggested that the mentally ill should be permanently incarcerated (only to later receive Capital Punishment) based upon their POTENTIAL harm to society?<br /><br /><br />=========<br /><br />On a slightly different note, if we're to be worried about slippery slopes, the one that I'd worry about is the expansion of the types of behaviors -- and even thoughts** -- that will lead one to be diagnosed with a punishable mental illness. Not to mention, who will be doing the "diagnosing".<br /><br />** FIRST Amendment, anyone?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-8742932714056244112014-05-31T20:33:41.560-04:002014-05-31T20:33:41.560-04:00""The Flood of 1927 brought about a poli...""The Flood of 1927 brought about a political shift, especially among African Americans. "<br /><br />The Republicans introduced anti-lynching legislation every year during the 1930s.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyer_Anti-Lynching_Bill<br /><br />"Republican President Warren G. Harding announced his support for Dyer's bill during a speaking engagement in Birmingham, Alabama. Although the bill was quickly passed by a large majority in the House of Representatives, it was prevented from coming to a vote in 1922, in 1923 and once more in 1924 in the Senate, due to filibusters by the white Southern Democratic block. The Democrats exerted one-party rule into the 1960s throughout most of the South."<br /><br />I agree that many Republicans are indeed part of the party of government but the Tea Party is attempting to change that.Michael Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18127450762129879267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-19991280289955502992014-05-31T19:46:44.479-04:002014-05-31T19:46:44.479-04:00Whenever someone on the Left loftily says, "I... Whenever someone on the Left loftily says, "I disagree with what you say, but will fight to the death for your right to say it".<br />Never can find any bodies either.<br />James the LesserJameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13642228725661059539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-91812387731321254272014-05-31T18:48:27.906-04:002014-05-31T18:48:27.906-04:00"From this history teacher's perspective,..."From this history teacher's perspective, going back to the 1950's might not be such a bad idea."<br /><br />"You bring up Black Americans? Well, why do you think the Civil Rights movement started percolating in the 1950's? Black Americans were also caught in the rising tide which made escape from poverty and second class status eminently possible, and further knew that there were powerful white men sympathetic to their legitimate aspirations."<br /><br />Kepha?<br /><br />Now while I'm not comfortable (or in most ways "properly credentialed") to express an opinion as to when African Americans' party shift nationwide mostly occurred - I am fairly comfortable declaring a timeframe for those living at the time along a certain big river. In 1927.<br /><br />"The Flood of 1927 brought about a political shift, especially among African Americans. Those who had traditionally favored the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln, since the Civil War resented the Republican response, or lack of response, and shifted their allegiance to the Democratic Party."<br /><br />http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2202<br /><br />ArkieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-51939592870398666542014-05-31T16:22:14.240-04:002014-05-31T16:22:14.240-04:00Ahhh, Dip,"
"...3/4 ...murders... Chicag...Ahhh, Dip,"<br />"...3/4 ...murders... Chicago... blacks..." Why you bean all RAAAAAACIST!!!1!!1!! en stuf? , heh, heh, heh...emdflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-13912070739848803272014-05-31T10:11:30.191-04:002014-05-31T10:11:30.191-04:00Absolutely, Mr. Wall.
Absolutely, Mr. Wall.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-33614564168541291882014-05-31T07:42:47.919-04:002014-05-31T07:42:47.919-04:00Back to the 1930s and the noble vision of "li...Back to the 1930s and the noble vision of "liberal fascism" that was trendy among intellectuals before word got around about Germany and Russia.whitewallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03469746790747742992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-60453640774591511812014-05-31T07:38:18.763-04:002014-05-31T07:38:18.763-04:00Guten tag a6z....to replace a government monopoly ...Guten tag a6z....to replace a government monopoly eg the VA, will require an all out war in Congress. The Dem party will fight it Hammer and Sickle. They can not allow such a thing to even get started, much less happen.whitewallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03469746790747742992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-46309733983535746152014-05-31T07:01:04.325-04:002014-05-31T07:01:04.325-04:00And while I'm at it, a lot of "progressiv...And while I'm at it, a lot of "progressives" (towards what?) seem so nostalgic for the 1930's and 1960's, which were "low, mean, rotten, lying" (W.H. Auden) decades tumbling headlong towards disaster. Kephahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00999385775493831638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-9763681288213516642014-05-31T06:57:58.836-04:002014-05-31T06:57:58.836-04:00Paul Bonneau: The 1950's were an era in which...Paul Bonneau: The 1950's were an era in which government tended to be responsible and understood it had limits. It was a time when many Americans were free to build communities of general civility and decency; when even teenaged boys could be trusted to bring firearms to school for an after-hours Marksmen's Club under adult (usually veteran) supervision. People could go for a starlight stroll with the reasonable expectation they could return home without being either attacked by criminals or questioned by police. <br /><br />Further, the 1950's seems to have been the last time in America when most people could be pretty free to put forth a responsible political opinion and be confident that opponents (rather than enemies) might give them respectful hearings. We also had a genuine, production-based prosperity and loads of opportunity for economic betterment for hard-working men of modest means (along with their families). It was also the last time most families in America were intact.<br /><br />You bring up Black Americans? Well, why do you think the Civil Rights movement started percolating in the 1950's? Black Americans were also caught in the rising tide which made escape from poverty and second class status eminently possible, and further knew that there were powerful white men sympathetic to their legitimate aspirations. <br /><br />Concerned about women? Well, why was Rosie the Riveter so quick to give her two-week notice and become a homemaker, rather than fight to become foreman, or even a mid-level manager or higher? Maybe she knew that she had a good chance of landing a man rather than one of the overgrown boys her sons growing up in the Silly 'Sixties ultimately became. <br /><br />As for "sexual minorities", they were called by their right name back then: perverts. We wouldn't have had the tragedy of Frank Lombard's adopted son back then; and there'd be no need for a Robert Oscar Lopez to plead for children unfortunate enough to be adopted by the male creeps who'd driven their mothers from their fathers. <br /><br />Back in the 1950's, we had an educational system that actually worked, since it focused on giving basic skills to as wide a population as possible rather than on becoming the laboratory for questionable social experiments. As for the Soviets beating us into space, that was because Sputnik did nothing but beep, while American (including the foreign-born, whom we welcomed rather than kept under guard) rocket scientists and their associates were arguing about the kinds of useful functions that could be put into our first satellites.<br /><br />We didn't frustrate whole generations by telling them they had to go to college. People more hand-oriented than intellectually-oriented could get good training on the job.<br /><br />The 1950's built an America confident enough to attempt the experiments of the 1960's that went so horribly, horribly wrong.<br /><br />Back to the '50's? Sure, there were problems. We were perhaps too smug; our liberalized religion failed to check our pride and self-will and tempted us to think that the House of God would live even when God was absent from it. As in the Song of Moses, "Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked". Further, powerful unions tended to lock minorities out of skilled trades. <br /><br />From this history teacher's perspective, going back to the 1950's might not be such a bad idea.Kephahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00999385775493831638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-25288363250978402872014-05-31T06:46:53.637-04:002014-05-31T06:46:53.637-04:00Should read "feeding on the bones". Make...Should read "feeding on the bones". Make mistakes when I am angry.<br />James the LesserJameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13642228725661059539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-24445092501166768272014-05-31T06:45:21.389-04:002014-05-31T06:45:21.389-04:00Mr. Mad,
Yes, they are like ghouls feeding the bon...Mr. Mad,<br />Yes, they are like ghouls feeding the bones of Nam. For that alone I despise them more that I can ever describe. For any lefties out there who wish to educate me on the subject, spare yourself, I am well versed.<br />James the Lesser <br />Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13642228725661059539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-76758300332819215672014-05-30T23:37:07.461-04:002014-05-30T23:37:07.461-04:00The 1950s were a bad time to be black in the Democ...The 1950s were a bad time to be black in the Democrat-dominated south.<br /><br />And of course technology was much more primitive, science less advanced, and people were much less affluent.<br /><br />Otherwise, morally and culturally in particular, it was a high-point from which we have dramatically descended. I only wish that a visit here were a visit there.<br /><br />And while it would be presumptuous for me to speak for Diplomad or the other members of this community, it is my own opinion that if you find a visit here too painful for your exquisitely refined sensibilities, you will be pleased to be informed that it is in no way mandatory.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-39840031366888394602014-05-30T23:25:10.998-04:002014-05-30T23:25:10.998-04:00The problem is of course not Shinseki personally, ...The problem is of course not Shinseki personally, nor Obama personally, nor anyone else personally. The problem is structure: a government monopoly doesn't have to please its "customers", so it doesn't.<br /><br />The solution is not (merely) to replace the poo-bah but to to replace the government monopoly with system that is both private and competitive.<br /><br />Now <i>that</i> requires replacing Obama.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com