During WWI and WWII the media was used to assure the population. The enemies wins were played down or else totally censored. Our victories were played up. Great leaders on both sides delivered words that were worth printing.

In todays battle it seems the tables have turned. The media is used to hype us into fear, not reassure us. Given that this is not a battle over trade routes or resource but a battle over hearts and minds what the heck are our leaders doing?
Did they all skip history in school?

Is their no one that can write a decent speech, worthy of air time or being printed in full. Or is there no one left that can read a page or two and sound convincing and coherent?

I fear we are in great peril, not from the enemy but from ourselves.

It's remarkable that a nation that was led to greatness by a man who couldn't walk is now letting itself be divided by a man who can barely talk.

I've no doubt that most if not all of the great leaders from history had their flaws. I don't really care if Howard and Bush are thieves, what I do care about is that they're not born leaders. And how did we get to this sorry state of affairs. Don't blame our 'leaders'. We're all the ones to blame, we voted with our wallets, we vote not for those who'll do the best job of leading our nations rather we vote for who'll put the most in OUR pockets, not those who'll do the best for the collective wealth.

Bob.

Which story is not true?

Cut in funding for NYC and DC. Reporters used to be skeptical and would ask questions when something didn't make sense (like this part of the story). They don't seem to be smart enough or skeptical enough or engaged enough to do this anymore. Mark my words, you will find that the basic facts in this story are wrong. I'd stake a steak (dinner) on it.

John,

What part of "this year's budget allocation for NY and DC is much smaller" is not correct?

Chertoff offered some weasel wording to the effect of "last year was abnormal."

Perhaps you are thinking of the power plants/wheat fields in the Mid West, etc.?

Those are not trophy targets, and I can only conclude that AQ is only interested in trophy targets.

AQ wants to tweak America's nose in a way that hurts, but not using regular warfare strategies when you go after infrastructure. That would not help them, more likely it would hurt them.

The administration's "war" invention is based on inept and careless assumptions, as a convenient way for the president to assume extraordinary powers, and to liberally excuse any behavior whatsoever.

They immediately took the bait, and did all the things that helped AQ recruitment far more than any of their internal efforts: Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, locking people up indefinitely without due process, torturing them themselves or outsourcing the torture through secret renditions, etc., etc., etc.

This ineptitude has cost us a lot of our freedom, all in the name of protecting it, in the language of NewSpeak.

And the thought that President Bush may get the Purple Scimitar medal from AQ for being their #1 recruiter does not give me any consolation at all.

if we want to look at New York alone, let's look at it this way. Buffalo was the only other city names & it gets $3.71m. NYC gets $124.45m. That's 33x more then buffalo. NYC gets ~$15.40 per resident. Buffalo gets ~$13.02 per resident.

So glad to know most people on this forum feel that some people are worth more money then others. I'm guesing those of us who don't live in a highly populated area aren't even worth thinking about then. Just worry about your city. Screw everyone else. Last I recal, some farmer in KY pays the fed's the same taxes some business man in NYC pays. They deserve the same protection. If not then maybe it's time for another civial war. That's get the troops out of Iraq & make most peopel happy, right?

There are two things about political discussions on this site:
1) they're labelled "OT" -- so you don't have to read or contribute;
2) politics affects all and each of us in significant ways -- should be part of every day "water cooler" talk.

A third aspect should be that people must be open to ideas and take a broad view of "the common good".

It always astonishes me that "liberal" is a term of US political abuse; surely basic to the Declaration of Independence. To check what you mean by it I looked up liberal , and I can't see how you can argue with that unless you have a different definiton of freedom (didn't check). The other thing is voting, and voting with intelligence (need the former to make any use of the latter).

The old US saying: "what's good for GM is good for the USA" has been proved in error, and so indeed is "what's good for the USA is good for the world". We all must think outside the box of our own personal and national interests, be broadly informed, and think long-term. Many problems have only long-term fixes. US foreign policy has coined a new phrase: " Friends-of-convenience become inconvenient enemies".
Yes, now we see the better side of Nixon: better for the country and less disadvantageous for the individual. Of course you've read John Dean's "Worse Than Watergate" and Peter Singer's "President of Good & Evil". Also interesting stuff at Dean and whether that is Conservative or Liberal, I've no idea.

So my views: government is in our own hands; ignorance is irresponsible; rigidity of political position is indefensible; my culture is not enherently superior to others. I make no comment on current US policies or quality of government over the talking points raised above.

And I'm 300ft from the base that does research and testing of all of the new "smart bombs". I'm ground zero for Russia, China, etc. other people that don't like the US.

And that is the problem. We have pi$$ed off so many people in the world, most of them want a piece of us. Specially with our government's recent arrogance. I won't even start on the big business aspect of our current situation.

I am actually embarrassed right now for the position our "leaders" have put us in. Sad, because my father, grand father, and great grandfather have all fought for this country and the rights of others throughout the world since the American Civil War. I wish they were here so I could ask their guidance.

I think I asked this before on this forum, is there any need for a nature videographer in Iceland, Sweden or Norway? Just until things cool down.

Friar,

How many times has Al Qaeda or other terrrorist groups targeted Buffalo?

In NYC we have

Assasination of Meir Kahane
WTC 93
Plan to blow up subway on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn.
Plan to blow up Holland and Lincoln tunnels
Plan to take down the Brooklyn Bridge
Plot to free the blind sheik

Also you look at the NYC metro area, that 22 million people, not just the 8 million that live in NYC. I think the majority of WTC victims on 9/11 resided in NJ.

Bush's popularity isn't in the thirties because liberals now number in the 60s. I'd say that about half the population would still call themselves "conservatives". Bush's ratings are so low because many of the people who voted for him are finally figuring things out.

Personally, I care where a politician stands on integrity and campaign finance reform a whole lot more than whether he's (she's) conservative or liberal. Our government at it's best is a combination of liberal and conservative ideals, but the corruption we are experiencing currently at all levels is destroying us.

If you blame the Repubs OR the Demos you only have about one half of the problem, mostly.

They are going to close a lot of National Guard bases, stations, depots.
The overall plan called for shutting or realigning more than 800 military installations nationwide....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/articles/base_list051305.html

Did the USA get smaller problem, threats, & disasters to have a lesser need for National Guard?

The list goes on.

A fresh new kind of Genius!

I would say conservatives are probably around 35-40 liberals about 30-35 and any combination of moderates make up the 35-25 in the middle. There was a poll done recently where they examined who Bush was losing. Independents and moderate Republicans were the big losses.



The Administration is trying to say that NYC didn't file it's application correctly which is not true, but looking what happened when Mayor Bloomberg analyzed the money.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg questioned yesterday whether old-fashioned pork barrel politics was at play in doling out the money in an election year. ....

This is disgusting. It's like how in Florida in 2004 after Hurricane Frances FEMA was cutting checks left and right in Miami-Dade County, even though the hurricane landed 100 miles to the north.

"People call you the rich and the super-rich. I call you my base."

Bush has gotten raked over the coals for that remark, but in his defense it was a joke.

It happened at the Al Smith Memorial Dinner in NYC which is a fundraiser for Catholic Charities, not for politicians. Al Gore was at the dinner making jokes too. It's traditional that both presidential candidates appear there. I think the reason the joke resonates is because it's so obviously true, but in his defense Bush was saying it as a way of poking fun at himself. Unlike the time when he joked about looking under the couch to find the missing WMD, the Al Smith Dinner joke is funny. The WMD joke is sociopath humor.



http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/10/18/politics/main242210.shtml
The event is named for the former New York governor who was the first Roman Catholic ever to be nominated for president.

>>>but in his defense Bush was saying it as a way of poking fun at himself. <<

Oh please.

This maroon should have been shown the door years ago.

>>>Russia because they're not old enough to remember when we were all taught as children to take cover beneath our wooden desks in the event of an atomic attack.<<<

We were more forward thinking - we were trained to go into the halls of the school and stand with our heads down, pushed against the wall, with our arms folded above our heads. When then wall was filled up the students started another line behind the first line of students. Also I should add that the grade school was also an aproved fallout shelter.

But aside form all that, and back "on-topic" to this thread. Does it really suprise anyone that Washington, DC works the way it does? There have always been little things tossed into bills and such - but now that GW is at the helm the masses are starting to look very closely at most everything that goes on. My point is is more and more things are being "discovered" and people are being backed into a wall to defend themselves. As has become the norm in recent months people will cause a huge stink and someone will be set up to be the fall guy/girl. These funding cuts just emphasizes the bed fellows that those in "power" keep and I will not be suprised if some low level peon is suddenly fired for a "clerical error that resulted in the drastic reduction of funding".

There have always been little things tossed into bills and such - but now that GW is at the helm the masses are starting to look very closely at most everything that goes on.

The truth of the matter is that since 1913, every president has, more or less, been a puppet controlled by those who, as you said, are truly "in 'power' ".

Regarding the "little things tossed into bills and such," you might want to listen to this.

I'm currently reading a book titled "Rule by Secrecy" by Jim Marrs. I highly recommend it for those who are concerned about the direction our country is headed. And if you're not concerned, you ought to be!

I don't know why, but this morning, the song "Getting to Know You" was running through my mind... And I realized that its been about a half-century since we would, as a country, choose some dumb silly inane song - and it would make us all feel good.

Then I realized that we somehow have gotten things mixed up. Today we choose a dumb, silly inane government, and it makes us all feel bad.