Legal?! Oh dear me, no no no... Simply uncouth. Exactly what you'd expect from a carny huckster. And he sounds like he's doing a floor show in The Birdcage. He's very good at what he does. In this business, bringing in the cash is all that counts. These people read spreadsheets, not law books. Why do you think Hillary and Obama are so.. "popular"?? Keep your eyes on the prize, and discover what animates this universe.

No, I yearn for Pre-Cambrian America.

His pontificating means nothing unless it speaks honestly of his actions. Sorry, not going to watch anything that requires signing up. And I'll bet you that all he can serve up is boilerplate Reaganisms.

Your defense is to be expected, brothers in arms, and all that, but he serves the empire. And he would do no better in political office than anybody else has. You cannot achieve that kind of power/wealth without seriously corrupting your soul. It just doesn't happen in today's world. The polite facade does not impress. Pick a guy who doesn't want the job.

We can't prove "free will" isn't instinctively driven with physical causes any better than we can prove the condition of Schrodinger's Cat.

*courtesy National Geographic

Make no mistake. It's code for "states rights" and Jim Crow. Let them deny all they want, but these are the desires of the old dixiecrats who flipped over the the republican faction back in '65, and whose radical Baptists gave us the "Moral Majority" and Ronald Reagan. And now we have Obama, who very successfully co-opted all resistance and crippled the civil rights movement and all legitimate criticism of the government as being racist, mixing them with the goofs who call themselves "conservatives" that actually are. In this context, Obama is the most successful and influential president ever. The real fear now however, is the changing demographic of the nation. Majority rule is only attractive to those in the majority.

Corruption is a function of time spent in DC.

Corruption is a direct function of proximity to wealth/power. The craving increases with time. Just like any other addiction. DC is a branch/franchise of and is subservient to Wall Street. This includes your Tad Cruz with his 21 hour telethon. Let's see him eliminate his own bennies...

The man seems highly unrepentant on those points.

Of course. A sociopath usually is. A 'good man' would resign his commission before going around invading other countries on his owner's say so. Polite table manners do not a 'good man' make. You seem to be impressed with his nice smile. As for 'loyalty', from a dog I expect loyalty. From a man I expect humanity, if he wants to be called human. I will believe the military is being reshaped when the troops are brought and sent home and when the careerism is put to a swift end.

Articles 128 and 134..

Only took $5000 out of his reputation, so I guess it didn't hurt his karma that much.

I'm sure if you had dinner with Henry Kissinger or Pablo Escobar, you would find them equally as pleasant.

Yes, the protectors of privilege will make things difficult. And don't be fooled by your favorite idiots like Alan West, Ted Cruz, etc. who see the rest of us as useless eaters. We can pin most of today's problems on people who think like them. They're nothing but Wall Street slaves also, like Reagan was. We just have to steamroll over them. That kind of wreckage I welcome. The crows will clean up the mess the same way they pick up any other roadkill.

The correct solution is to do what Iceland did. Just zero out the damn books. It will only hurt those at the tippy-top of the chain, a tiny, and worthless segment of the population, mostly, if not entirely made up of sociopaths and criminals. They won't be missed. The rest of us can continue on as if nothing happened at all.

Ever suffered Russian or European Imperialism? One thing we'll have to face for the foreseeable future is that unless you're the biggest Imperialist, whose well cared for lapdog citizens who will need somebody to change their bedpans and diapers most certainly approve, you will be under somebody's thumb

Screw that. How much does the "stimulus" cost the "economy"?* Much much of our pensions are being gambled away on the derivatives markets? How much longer are all you people going to keep voting your approval of this?

Shutdown, pfft! All this bullshit to manipulate speculative markets... High frequency traders are making out like the bandits they are.

*Hint: more than 85 billion a month. That might even be more than the war.

And how are you going to trust them? I sure as hell wouldn't. For the right price they'll cough up anything. Hell, they'll even make up shit if the cops want you that badly. Prosecutors have quite the history in that department. The best way to deliver a message after all these thousands of years is still through the classifieds or letters to the editor of a national or global daily periodical. Because even through Craigslist they can still track who reads the ad.

[Citation needed]

Bugger off!

:-) Hey, I can't help it. I'm Catholic. It's what we do.