bleeding heart

"Bush Snubs Netanyahu on Israel Visit http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124825 "Reagan is Scapegoating Israel" http://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/15/opinion/reagan-is-scapegoating-israel.html

Police powers are discretely determined by specific laws and regulations depending on specific purposes. The law that he was detained under was not designed for the way it was used...it is to be used only when, as I said, the person detained must himself be suspected of being "involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism." That wasn't why he was detained; indeed, they didn't question him about terrorism at all. As for "classified materials"...they ordered the germane Guardian hardrives destroyed...even knowing that copies had been made. A (completely related) instance of the same intimidation tactics....in fact, also involving Greenwald himself.

And that's just it. Raw demographics aren't the only matter under question; the question is how many adherents will behave in manners we see as destructive to our current laws and practices.

I know. I was speaking in more general terms, as I think political hero worship is a real and genuine human weakness, more common than cancer and arguably as dangerous. (Certainly less intelligent.) But I mentioned that you were making no such claims.

Benghazi or no, I'd be extremely cautious about this sort of Noble Leader hypothesizing in any case. (Poor Salman Rushdie and Christopher Hitchens tried, at different times, to pull this hero-worship with the smarmy little Tony Blair. And Hitchens pretty much grew moist for Paul Wolfowitz's "humanitarianism," Indonesia evidently an irritating side-issue.) It's not that men like Obama (or Blair, or Bush, or Harper) aren't or can't be basically decent men; it's that foreign policy, up to and including military action, is a complex, institutional matter, in which there are usually--maybe always--venal and ugly interests at play, even if good intentions are present as well. The idea that noble leaders sit around and plot goodness--and then make it happen--seems pretty implausible. So much so that I think the onus to demonstrate it is on those making the claim (not that you were, Sharkman...I'm speaking generally); far moreso than on those critical of it.

Only to Commissars. Again: And that's it. Period. The person who is detained must himself be suspected of being "involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism." It appears to have been an effort to intimidate the news media generally, especially the Guardian, and the detainee's partner, Glenn Greenwald, specifically.

Like who?

That's a funny response. In my opinion.

I see, ok.

"Everyone around me was a lazy slob, but I, because of my work ethic--foundered on the strong moral steel of conservatism (of course!)--had the work ethic and productivity of two men!" Yeah, that was merely meant as a sober observation.

I don't think you know what "arrogance" means. And I like how you say my response stems from the fact that the Bible was "mentioned," rather than the fact that pre-Muslim Biblical prophecy was floated as possibly referring to an Islamic takeover of Western civilization. Because, no, I don't take such arguments seriously at all...and no serious person does. I'd wager that the majority of Christians would not rate this highly as a political argument, either.

So you conclude your post not only with an anecdote--that is, with a rhetorical method so completely unproveable, and un-disproveable, that it is literally completely useless to everyone, and carries literally zero information; and then you pile on by producing the most self-serving, self-aggrandizing anecdote in recent memory--and you don't think it might undermine the rest of your post in any way? All right, carry on, then.

You're suggesting that skepticism regarding the Scriptural adherence to history is akin to Holocaust denial? Seriously?

You're floundering. Again.

That our foreign policy is based on benign motives; that we try to do "what is right"; that everyone should play hockey. Hell, you must have some notion, with your "love it or leave it" philosophy. lol

That people react violently doesn't mean their reaction is rational. But you're avoiding the discussion...I'm not sure you've thought these ideas through very well

Who are the victims of said "bigotry" again? I think we need to clarify. Is it Bachman, Perry, and other powerful people?

No...my response is that a book called the Quran is an object, so is literally dumb. This was in context of your ill-thought-out contention that it doesn't matter if Muslims are determined to dominate...because a magical book will dominate Canada and other countries without the help of individual Muslims. Sounds absurd? I hear ya, brother.....

So now you're outright calling me a bigot? Jeez, thanks a lot.

Actually, Eyeball is pretty explicitly adhering to the typical Canadian worldview...except he recognizes that, as it stands, that view is mostly a self-serving myth. And he thinks it shouldn't be. Boy, these radicals!

Please...you're the one speaking for him; I am informing you of exactly what he wrote. Now, I can't help it if what he writes is not what he means. If he meant to talk about laws and politicians...why then did he only speak of lawbreakers (murderers, in fact)....and suicidal teens? And how did you get "stupid politicians and laws" from a serial killer, honour-killers, spitting racist co-workers, and teenaged suicide?

biblical Prophecy is only potentially true as are an infinite number of things, many of them just as likely (and unlikely) and thus not the sort of thing that most people waste their time trying to convince non-beleivers on the internet. Seriously, if you're going to invoke Biblical Prophecy, you're declaring a certain, intentional end to serious discussion.

Oh, sweet Godzilla on His Throne.... The Quran is not going to come over, and in a huge flap of pages, crush the West. Only individual Muslims could do that. The book is helpless and useless without them. And yet, as I pointed out (and as you didn't, and can't, rebut), not nearly enough Muslims have the interest to do so. So unless you think the fairy tale of Allah is a real and angry dude....there's no major issue here. It is literally dumb. It has no innate power.

Well said, and too true.

Right...not the slightest breath about "stupid politicians and stupid laws"...but instead, when he made the "comparison," he made it about serial killers, racists spitting out of vehicles, and bullying-inspired teen suicide. I'm not quite sure why, but there it is. Mind you, I'm not for a second suggesting that we don't have stupid politicians. It's a given. But you're putting words into other posters' mouths.