Wrath of Dagon

No, legitimate is not the same thing as legal. Something may be legal under the laws of the Soviet Union, but that doesn't make it legitimate.

They get a lot of their guns from the US because it's the easiest path thanks to our open borders. Surely if they can smuggle tons of narcotics they would have no trouble obtaining guns from elsewhere if necessary. As far as Afghanistan, that's a civil war, quite different from law abiding citizens being defenseless and at the complete mercy of criminal gangs as in Mexico. Indeed. The US military has an excellent record of obeying orders. It is disciplined and with an aggressive, warrior ethos. It will do as it is ordered by it's CiC. My counter-factual has some real world precedent. The US government had no problems using it's military to quell civil unrest in New Orleans post Katrina. Furthermore, when that wasn't enough, your pioneering PMCs provided extra muscle too. I'm sure plenty of 'security contractors' hail from the 'Flyover' states. Surely I don't need to explain the difference between legitimate law enforcement and suppression of liberty? Btw, I don't think any federal troops were used for law enforcement in NO, as that's illegal. You're probably thinking about the National Guard.

You realize the US military is almost entirely recruited from the conservative fly-over states, and the Coast Elites don't know which end of a gun is which, don't you?

I don't see it, militias have a tiny amount of support, and not all of them are that radical. Something like this is a more likely scenario: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100422/wl_time/08599198386500 You'll notice the military isn't involved at all.

US armed forces aren't about to fight their own citizens on behest of some leftist, the opposite is likely true. Absolutely possession of arms guarantees freedom, the leftists don't believe in costitutional rights and believe in free speech only for themselves. For an example for how wonderfully peaceful a country is where guns are banned, one needs to look no further than Mexico.

Agreed. Don't tell me you've also forgotten how third order dynamics work, WoD? Huh?

Trillion isn't that much. The U.S. has had that for a long time. What universe are you from? Bribery might be OK if it benefitted the US in some way. But we're bribing people so we can screw ourselves over, that's got to be a new low.

Yes, they can't be bothered to amend the old subsidy law before its expiration, but it's never too much bother to add a new subsidy, no matter who it's for.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100412/us_time/08599197896300 If that doesn't make your blood boil.

Nothing can beat Baa Baa Black Sheep.

I'm impressed, Putin is doing a better job of brainwashing the young than the communists ever did. At least back then everyone assumed whatever the government told them was a lie.

Everyone's out to get us, we better turn up the repression! Old Soviet methods still work beautifully.

Here you go: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-12...il-police_N.htm Of course it is from HRW, but still.

Yes, Brazil is far more democratic than the US. I just heard a report yesterday how in Brazil police don't bother to arrest criminals, they just execute them on the spot.

Heh. I suspect you're going to get Wrath of Dagon dropping by to tell you that you're wrong soon. Fact that Kadyrov fought against RF in the first war is well documented, as is the fact that he's on the official kremlin payroll. Oh yes, I certainly knew that. I'm just slightly amused because that ^^^ is pretty much exactly what I said, in the general case, a month ago and was told that I was wrong (and it was OT/ irrelevant, which it was in that thread so I didn't push it further). No, that's not what you posted.

I don't think you get to go around veiled in Russia, just an educated guess.

Doesn't really prove much, both parties now support Social Security and Medicare, or at least pay lip service to it. It's the difference between what's expected and what's new. Plus everyone loves getting something for free, even if it really isn't. Now a conservative supporting government paid maternity leave is indeed something else.

The war in Iraq will cost $900 billion this year? The Supreme Court so far is not disregarding the entire constitution, just the parts that have become inconvenient and unpopular. Of course eventually the whole thing can be thrown out, depending on future elections. As it says in our courthouse "Where law ends, tyranny begins."

Intelligent Design is fine as philosophy, it's just not science.

Uprecedented? They've been doing it since FDR. Almost the entire Federal government is unconstitutional by now. Edit: Here's an article about rationing under Obamacare: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/the-real-obamacare-fraud/ Well, it least it has some cost control. This is particularly disturbing though : '"Qualified plans" can contract only with a doctor who "implements such mechanisms to improve health-care quality as the [current or future] secretary [of Health and Human Services] may by regulation require"(Sec. 1311, p. 148-49).' Keep your filthy government hands off of my insurance. Edit2: Actually a lot of the stuff he claims as rationing is speculative, it's not in the healthcare bill. There's a link to the implementation timeline in that article : http://docs.house.gov/energycommerce/TIMELINE.pdf

Seconded. We don't need LOF in any sane thread.

Sounds like a great plot for a video game.

The reason get a lot of flak if they go too far in pushing creationism (or push it at all, for that matter) is because you have to be a complete and utter idiot to literally believe the bible creation story. It's not because "education is skewed to the left," it's because education is supposed to be teaching kids, to the best of our ability, truth. Anyone with half a brain knows that the bible creation story (or its renamed counterpart, "Intelligent Design") is scientific bull****. The only reason creationists get any recognition at all is because they tend to be very loud and obnoxious, and enjoy pushing their nonsensical beliefs on people who are actually interesting in learning how the world works. You either missed my point, or just spewing things at random. In the latter case, there's no need to quote me.

It went a long time ago.

Yeah, the rhetoric needs to be cooled a bit. The way some are talking is it's like the end of the world. Some of the more unstable individuals don't understand it's just political theater.