So the other side of the coin, is how many more people than five would he have killed if he had a semi-automatic.  I think the body count would have went up considerably.  And if criminals can get guns even if they're illegal, why wasn't he packing anyway?

Sounds like the choice were all going to have come November

You know, I have always questioned the whole idea of carrying a knife of a certain size to be illegal. I think if I wanted to, I could kill someone with the small knife on a swiss army knife. Hell, I bet the swiss army could do it.

2. The media is not one uniform thing. This, for instance, is part of the media. Every channel is part of the media. Media is, of course, a plural word. So there are certainly liberal biases and there are definitely conservative ones as well. The trouble is in pretending that there are no biases and that all good reporting is non-biased. I think this is foolish. It is in human nature, and human rights, to make a judgment. It is also our responsibility to not wholesale swallow anyone's judgment. As a writer and a Catholic and a liberal, my life has me live with and love people who cannot abide each other and cling to some party line either right or left. What we need is more subtlety and a better understanding of each other. What we need is true love in the old Christian sense of the word; that is: caritas. Charity.

Apples and oranges, the 70's wage and price controls were all about controlling inflation through wage and price caps, not an increase. We've been artificially inflating prices through taxes and tariffs for some time without a problem.

The recent gas price surge has shown quite conclusively that even a small increase in gas prices can significantly reduce consumption. It's also proven that we can adapt very quickly to change our transportation habits. Just in the last 6 months the use of public transportation, carpooling and demand for more fuel efficient vehicles has gone up dramatically and truck and SUV sales have plumited.

Alternative energy is an economic boom just waiting to happen and higher gas prices are giving it a big kick.

Very true! However, one could also make the argument that the current administration has allowed nearly unprecedented manipulation of the market, by allowing the big banks to regulate and police themselves, thus leading to the biggest swindle in modern history (bigger than the S & L in scope) whereby the banks created fake money through toxic junk bonds based on debt collateral that would never be realized! After that pipe dream went up in smoke (and it did in august of 07 though all the commentators and officials were too scared to come out and say it) the banks then did 2 things:

1) they pleaded with and received a bailout from the fed to the tune of several hundred billion (if that's not artificial market manipulation and 'nanny state economics' please tell me what is!)

2) with the collapse of the derivatives and CDO market and the loss of hundreds of billions (perhaps trillions) in worthless funds that no one will buy to this day (except the fed, of course, again bailing them out) they decided to speculate on

a) food

b) oil

And now these are the two commodities whose prices have skyrocketed quite unnaturally, rising far above any level that would be expected with the current supply and demand. There have been food riots in poorer countries around the globe (although hardly covered at all or only in passing by major news outlets over here) and oil has more than DOUBLED in cost since last year. It's been proven that the massive spike in prices have very little to do with production amounts or market demand pressures... it's the fact that the big banks, desperate for capital after their last debacle (which still isn't over, btw) have decided to try and recoup some of their losses by turning the worlds food and energy markets into a giant poker game where the small blind is enough capital to buy the entire soy harvest of Brazil in one fell swoop!

And of course let's not forget the value of the dollar or how this has afffected inflation!

I thought felons lost the priviledge of voting.  Am I right? 

That being said I am against the death penalty because the system is imperfect and I believe there have been innocent people killed by the state. 

As for your Governor, what to say.  Most politicians are better at keeping their agenda hidden.  Sadly, I think there are very few Mr. Smith's serving our government now. 

Don't you know it is all about telling peple what they want to hear?!  I know a few people like that too!lol! 

I haven't seen any charges on my phone bill and yes, I DO VOTE FOR AMERICAN IDOLS  AND PROUD TO SAY SO!  I'm one of those people who like to get involved when I believe in something.  I can't sit on the sideline and have others speak for me. That is why I vote, that is why I get my voice heard! 

Charles, why are you getting so defensive?  All you hae to do is come back with your arguement and we have a heated debate!  Don't come at me with crap like this. I won't even bother to get into a discussion with you!

Oh absolutely! Which one of the candidates running don't want power? Otherwise it would be a waste of their time right?! 

We don't know what will happen whomever gets to the big white house.  We can only hope that what he or she does will be for the good of all of us.  As for Obama, I honestly don't think he will be in the big white house.  If he does make it, the beers are on me!  Nope, not going to promise to eat soap!LOL!

Are you insulting the American populice, me included?  Because it reads like it

The people will choose who they want weather you guys approve are not!  And I doubt very much Obama would be in the race if he didn't have something he believed in.  Doc, you might not believe that, but a lot of people do.

Arguably, Bush is one of the best politicians. Sure he started a war, but our opponents are too afraid to fight us to our face. Plus, like Dr Guy said, Bush actually campaigned on something, and went through with it. People are then used to presidential candidates actually going through on their words, but odds are that none of the democrats will. McCain I only trust for his experience, not his politics, and he's a heck of a lot better than the democraps.