well no doubt it's a mucked up mess ..

I think the surge is half-a'd and the defacto time-line the admin' initially didn't want but recently initiated.

The shame will be coming home in 'o8 and in 'o9 having a worse mess than we have now .. and that appears to be where we're now headed with a push from Congress and blessings of the President .. because ya know November has followed September for several centuries.

So if we're gonna do that - then bring 'em home now and be prepared in short order for a bigger mess . both there and worldwide including a lot of alQaidi rejoicing. The better alternative is to rename "The Surge" to "America has not yet begun to fight" and then follow through on the namesake.

But don't worry - there are chicken hawks and fools lining both isles of Congress, as well as a house-full further down Pennsylvania ave.

Ned,
This is a great letter and I share your thoughts. As I contemplate another international trip with my family, I am even more disturbed at our standing in the world. While visiting London and France, we sewed Canadian flag patches to our backpacks---it saved us from the ire of many and we met many new friends through that act. I only wish we did not have to do that again.
Thanks again for your letter.

So instead of showing foreigners the good side of America (yourself), you misled them into thinking you were from Canada?

Kind of cowardly, eh?

So the world traveler has a new alias...hmmm

Nit,
Have you ever been outside the country since 9/11?

******************
Bringing the troops home is the only way to salvage a failed policy now. Those who say it will turn into mass chaos, and even bigger bloodbath, I ask "How do you know"? Maybe, when forced to decide, the folks who live in Iraq will find a way to solve their own problems. You know, like the Vietnamese did, and who by the way are now considered a "DEVELOPING COUNTRY" vs. a third world country. Ned Cline has hit the nail on the head.

Don't worry, Liberal Conservative, this country is just as ashamed of you as you are of it.

Swank" a lot a "pus",
You certainly are in a position to judge, being such a fine upstanding member of the community. By the way, how come you've never explained, to polite society, what you mean by your nickname? Thought so.

I see where the "democracy" in Iraq, created by the Bush administration, hung their former VP today.....that would probably be a good plan for us on our current VP since he is no doubt, a war criminal.
:)

TLC indeed.

I've explained it to you several times already, DD. Just because you don't like the answer does not mean that one has not been provided.

You purposefully lie and deceive others about who you are merely to gain their approval and friendship. That is a wonderful example to be setting to your family. Just lie and conceal the "real you" in an effort to impress persons you do not know. As long as you fit in with the crowd and make friends, who cares about the deceit? Who cares about being honest about the real you?

If those new friends you made through your deception were friends that were worth having, they would have been accepting of you based upon WHO you where, not WHAT you where. If a homosexual has to pretend to be straight in order to have his friends, then those friends are not true friends. And he is better off without them. Seems like someone a while back got busted for concealing who he really was, just to "fit in". I think his name was Huggurd or something like that.

I would have thought that you would agree that every person should be judged not according to race, sex, ethnicity, religion, sexual preference, country of origin, etc. but on the basis of who they are. And that those who continue to judge people by those standards are people not worth associating one's self with.

Ease up a little bit, there swanks!

Remember, it's easy to be "American" when you are the "toast of the town" ... for example, after you've just kicked the Germans back across the Rhine for the second time ... and bailed out France and the rest of Europe from tyranny.

Whereas, one must have a modicum of moral fiber, strength of character and courage to stand tall in the face of adversity. LIBCON simply may not be able to muster these qualities when he's visiting "across the pond."

Just because he uses the Maple Leaf as a shield doesn't mean he's any less of an Amer ... less of an ... hmmmm ... less of .... Well, now that I think about it, maybe it DOES, doesn't it?

Swank-a-lot-a-pus,
Seems maybe YOU should come out of the closet you are hiding in..?
As for Mr. Larsh, I guess you did not venture outside the U.S. after 9/11 either?

Oh, and just to clear things up, like the Dixie Chicks, I am NOT proud of my President. He is an embarrassment to all of us, except for those who still cannot read and think on their own.

You seem to have a major fixation on overseas travel after 9/11, LIBCON. What's up with that? After 9/11, my trips to Europe and Asia, while only three in number for a few weeks each time, and spread out about a year or so apart, were more or less uneventful. If anything, I was more welcomed than before. Certainly, nothing horrible happened.

I cannot speak for "nitpicker" or "Mr. Larsh," as I have no idea whether they traveled or not. But apparently, you had a bad experience or two. Is it just possible, LIBCON, that the problem was you YOURSELF and not the British or the French?

Good to see that you have a bit of spine here, on an anonymous blog. Too bad you don't seem to have one when you are out in public, where someone might (gasp) be mean to you in person.

It really takes a brave man to hide himself behind a lie, so as not to possibly draw someone's ire. We wouldn't want anyone to be rude to you, now would we? Rather than cowardly standing tall for yourself, you bravely concocted a very cunning scheme to pass your whole family off as something you are not. Just because you MIGHT draw someone's ire.

Why face the truth in any situation when a well crafted and well thought out lie will avoid it?

There has been a lot of bunk made about liberals being unpatriotic. I don't believe a bit of it. I think liberals love America and are just as patriotic, as a whole, as are conservatives, as a whole. You are the exception to this, however. In your case, such accusations have, I believe, been proven.

Hey world traveler, instead of hunkering behind the Canadian flag, why not go whole hog and have your family wear burkas and walk a few steps behind you?

"libCON"...gotta be a spin-off of cRock-o-...feller's "I'm a true conservative" BS yada,yada,yada...lol

.. that's right Meow.

small c ... having the tendency to conserve - to prevent injury, decay, or waste - to use resources wisely; preserve; save.

vs: big C .. as in the big C "Contract with America" .. advanced by Newt who recently admitted to having an affair while wasting tax-payer money going after Bill's affair.

vs: big C .. as in .. Tom Delay. Now three's a man who should be leading troups to battle .. and not allowed within a 20 mile radius of DC 'cause he borders on unamerican, saying non-republicans - by definitions cannot share his interests. See also Delay vs. Chris Smith and the American Veteran.

I could spend all day here .. same as the big L's .. not to be confused with little l's .. a subtlety often lost on Rambo.

from the Cato Institute: "Americans are united by a love of liberty, respect for the freedom of others and an insistence on their own rights as set forth in the Declaration"

Swank says, "Good to see that you have a bit of spine here, on an anonymous blog. Too bad you don't seem to have one when you are out in public, where someone might (gasp) be mean to you in person."

SO SWANKS, WHY DON'T YOU POST UNDER YOUR OWN NAME? YOU SEEM QUITE ENAMORED WITH OTHERS BUT WILL NOT EVEN EXPLAIN TO DECENT SOCIETY WHAT THE MONIKER "Swank-a-lot-a-pus" means.
**********************
neocon,
As Ahnald would say, "You are irrelevant"

Let me break this thing down for you, Libcon as you are either purposefully missing the point, or are truly too obtuse to discern it on your own.

Your actions have been that of a spineless worm. This is not because you post on these blogs under a moniker that is not your true name. Try to throw up whatever smoke screen you will, but this is the issue. Not what you think my nickname stands for. That has been explained to you before, my memory deficient friend.

It is because of a prefabricated and well thought out falsehood that you created simply because you were too cowardly to be yourself in public. If you are too afraid to be yourself in public, because of what other people may think about you, then you are anything but a big man.

You hid your true identity in order to gain acceptance from a group of people that you didn't know, and will never see again.

When you are home, you do not hesitate to get on these blogs and tell everyone what is wrong with America, the President and everything else. Fine. You have that freedom. Why do you have that freedom? Because you are an American citizen. You are entitled to have an opinion and voice your opinion. You make good use of such a freedom.

Then, after availing yourself of all of your freedoms and protections, you leave the country and try to disassociate yourself with it, only to return and resume the relationship.

You are an American when you want to criticize and not an American when you may get criticized.

Excellent synopsis on the world traveler.

My hat is off to you sir.

Swanks,
The attention you are getting from neocon is not something to be proud about. So, how do you explain to women and children that you call yourself "Swank a lota pus"? If you had daughters, would you still call yourself that? If you had a respectable spouse, would you call yourself that? Didn't think you would answer.

As to your comments on going abroad post 9/11, you have NO idea of whence I come. Of course, I'm sure you were gobbling "Freedom Fries" and saying "Bring em on" with dubya....which would make my point.

I'm not really sure which of my comments you read into about some post 9/11 travels. All of my comments have been very direct and critical of your lies, with nothing said about your travel plans.

But if you are trying to insinuate that you had a need for your lies, then I must wonder why you would put your family in a situation where the only safe and viable option is to conceal your identities.

And I don't believe it. You were just afraid that you would catch a little bit of flak from some people and were scared that you might get humiliated in front of your family, so you told them how brilliant of a deception you had come up with and got them to join in on the deceit.

Most people teach their children to stand up for themselves, have pride in who they are, that sort of thing. But to each his own, apparently.

As far as my name, I explain it to them just as I've explained it to you.