Commissar

Then there's nothing keeping you here. Free to leave at any time. I dislike the current administration, too. I'm also, quite frankly, scared to death at the number of people who reject evolution, if polling is to be believed. I do think that we're in danger of starting to actually restrict rights rather than grant them. But I don't hate the country. If you really do, then get the hell out. Seriously. Make room for an immigrant family who'll be working too hard to have time to complain about current events. I don't like George W. Bush, and I think it's abhorrent that we have a leader who seems to lack the mental capacity to best a six year-old in a debate, but all the same, I thought Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, too. Know why? Because everyone else in the world did as well. He didn't lie, and he also wasn't out downrange in a turban and balaclava gathering intelligence first-hand, so you really need to stop attributing all of this to him. Do I think he wanted the war no matter what? I certainly do. But they sold it to us using information that was widely regarded as correct at the time, and not only did the majority of the American people - my liberal ass included - agree with it, so did the majority of our government, on both sides of the aisle. You might've been one of the few dissenters, and more power to you if that's truly the case. I have my doubts. We can debate all we want about tremendously bad handling of the actual war, but going back and forth over how it all got started is not going to get us anywhere. In hindsight, I'm the first to regret the decision, and I currently think of it as being a bad idea, but I'm very well aware that my opinion was different when we first started rolling in. Bill Clinton broke the law. There's no way around that. Yeah, a lot of people think he was impeached because of the morality of the whole thing, but that's not the way it went down. He committed a criminal act. It's possible Bush has too, but until there's proof, that's just speculation. Suggesting he ought to be impeached for something that most of the country cheered at the time is a little out there.

That's not what Clinton was impeached for.

Oh, and welcome to the new mod, and all of that. I'm Commissar. I have very little interest in Obsidian games, or even games in general these days. My affection for Star Wars has waned in proportion to my age. I rarely, if ever, post outside of Off Topic, and my posts here generally tend to be argumentative in nature, yet dashing and insightful at the same time. In short, I have no real reason to even post on these boards, save as a holdover from days long ago. I get reported from time to time (mostly due to dashing and insightful commentary), though in the end the Party always wins.

Both, though it's much harder to find any soccer worth watching over here. MLS is a joke. I have a friend who played soccer in college, though, and he always subscribes to whatever digital cable package has the English leagues available. Good stuff. Portsmouth all the way.

What? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Obviously you haven't watched enough Family Guy to be sick of people quoting from it. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I haven't seen anything from the second season, no. I have testicles, so I watch football.

What?

I'll admit, I've thought you've been dropping acid while posting a couple of times lately.

The Episode 3 DVD is out, huh?

On a more serious note, I'll say that "Conservative Christian" or "Christian Conservative" does, in fact, denote a very real political and social philosophy; I very rarely, if ever anymore, make the mistake of simply using "Christian" when I mean Christian conservative. If you don't adhere to this particular philosophy, then you have nothing to worry about, just as I see no need to fly off the handle when someone rails against communists. That said, it is off-topic, and I suppose that if anyone truly wanted to debate the issue we could move it elsewhere. Since it's been debated in at least a hundred different threads here, however, I can't imagine why anyone would really want to do such a thing. But you know me. I'm always game for an argument.

Spoken like a man who's never hit Bare Assets after ten straight hours at the tables.

Say what you like, but I think even a conservative Christian would admit that they don't want a conservative Christian to be the guy they hit Vegas with.

Well, Family Guy has that, too. "At the end of this show, I just want to point out that killing strippers is wrong. Remember that strippers are people, too. People who are willing to pleasure you for money through negotiations in a private room. Plus, there is no need to kill them. They are already dead inside." "I guess to all young girls out there: always make youselves available. You don't know who you slept with may become famous one day." "Oh well, there goes my mama." <{POST_SNAPBACK}> See what I mean, Meta?

No, I would say exclusively because of perjury and obstruction of justice. Last I heard, that's where he broke the law. It's not illegal to receive a hummer from a woman you're not married to, though I have no doubt the Christian conservative movement has that very legislation drafted and ready to go for the beginning of the theocracy. To steal and alter a famous quote, Christian conservatism is the paralyzing fear that someone, somewhere is having a good time.

Why the hell does everyone think Hillary's going to run? She's not. Drop it. The Democratic party knows a woman's not going to win an election anytime soon, especially not one as divisive as Hillary Clinton. So sure, they may be making the case that she's not fit for president. So what? My boy Warner's gonna whip the Jesus > Constitution crowd in '08.

Is that their job? To make Christian entertainment? Hollywood has always made challenging movies that upset all sorts of people, as well as lots of dross that plays to the middle ground and upsets no-one. The latter seems to be in the ascendency at the moment. However, some people just like being upset. It used to be the case that Hollywood movies recovered their production costs and made a profit based on US cinema tickets sold, with any international sales a bonus. Now they depend on doing well in Europe and Japan, and on video/DVD. Is that influencing them in a way that US conservatives dislike? I don't know. And you should've put quotation marks around that quote; someone will attribute it to me and think I've gone all crazy Christian conservative. It will play well in Europe, where exploration of the issue of terrorism is seen as interesting and useful. People feel instinctively that the Bush approach of painting all terrorists as evil fiends plotting our destruction for kicks is wrong, but aren't sure how to achieve a more nuanced and balanced understanding. If this film deals with such issues in an intelligent way, I'll be going to see it. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well, see, that's the thing; nuance doesn't play well on this side of the pond. If it's not a ten-words-or-less hardass statement, it doesn't fly. Certain sections of society over here are going to get very, very offended at the mere suggestion that acts of terrorism could ever be committed in a way that's portrayed as either good or simply ambiguous. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Woops, didn't even notice all that. Thanks, Rev.

I did see a US commentator on TV saying that Wilson went around parties in Washington introducing her as 'my CIA wife'. However, when challenged, he admitted that this wasn't something he had witnessed himself, but something he had heard someone else say Wilson was doing. It might even have been third- or fourth-hand information. It sounds like a smear campaign to me. I'd wait for actual evidence, rather than believe conservative pundits whose modus operandi is to muddy the issue to get their guy off the hook. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Sounds a little too vulgar to be true. Nobody does that, no matter what the job. Honestly. Who introduces someone as, "my CEO wife," or, "my Army officer wife," or, "my Russian wife?" You don't. You say, "This is my wife, Valerie." Reportedly, her neighbors didn't know what she did, her friends didn't know, even her family didn't know. Nevertheless, if for some inconceivable reason it did turn out to be true, then Wilson ought to be prosecuted himself. I think it's all smoke and mirrors, since the Republicans are well aware that a senior White House staffer and presidential advisor spending the next thirty years in a federal pen doesn't really mix with their message of restoring honor and decency to the Oval Office.

Is that their job? To make Christian entertainment? Hollywood has always made challenging movies that upset all sorts of people, as well as lots of dross that plays to the middle ground and upsets no-one. The latter seems to be in the ascendency at the moment. However, some people just like being upset. It used to be the case that Hollywood movies recovered their production costs and made a profit based on US cinema tickets sold, with any international sales a bonus. Now they depend on doing well in Europe and Japan, and on video/DVD. Is that influencing them in a way that US conservatives dislike? I don't know. And you should've put quotation marks around that quote; someone will attribute it to me and think I've gone all crazy Christian conservative. It will play well in Europe, where exploration of the issue of terrorism is seen as interesting and useful. People feel instinctively that the Bush approach of painting all terrorists as evil fiends plotting our destruction for kicks is wrong, but aren't sure how to achieve a more nuanced and balanced understanding. If this film deals with such issues in an intelligent way, I'll be going to see it. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well, see, that's the thing; nuance doesn't play well on this side of the pond. If it's not a ten-words-or-less hardass statement, it doesn't fly. Certain sections of society over here are going to get very, very offended at the mere suggestion that acts of terrorism could ever be committed in a way that's portrayed as either good or simply ambiguous.

So they're broadcasting a game between the Red Wings and the Blackhawks on OLN. I don't like either of these teams in the slightest, and I actively hate the Red Wings, but I'll probably catch the first period or so before I roll on off to sleep, just to watch some hockey.

Damnit, speak to the topic. Quit derailing my pristine thread! By the way, Cant, did you author that e-mail?

Just doesn't seem like it'd really lend itself well to a radio broadcast; too much going on, all the time. I really need to set aside some time to start watching games again. I love hockey, but like I said, tough to find on TV.

Well, that's cool, I guess. Must have a very London-during-the-Blitz feel to it.

I didn't know they broadcast NHL games over in Finlandia. It's hard enough finding them on American television.

The Simpsons isn't anything without the cultural relevancy, so I don't know how it's going to play in Tikrit. As a general observation, satire doesn't seem to be a big part of the Muslim world. Family Guy's funny, sure, and I used to watch it, but stopped when I realized that far too many people quote from it in their daily lives.

I tried for about five seconds to come up with a good layman's terms example, and got this: If 7-11 and Starbucks are on opposite sides of the street, and you walk from 7-11 to Starbucks, at some point you're going to cross the street. I'm sure someone's going to point out that no, you could just walk all the way around the earth to the Starbucks without crossing the street, or some equally pedantic argument, but I just have this to say: I took one (required) math class my freshman year of college, and I'm doing alright, despite the fact that I can barely remember how to do long division by hand anymore.

Pretty much what Steve said. Basketball is a popular game in terms of young people playing it (to the point where it was even more popular than non-american football at my school), but Basketball isn't seen on TV in the UK outside of sattelite sports channels and the very early-morning American Sports shows on Channel 5 (if they even still do that). Back when I was in primary, though, collecting basketball stickers for sticker books was very popular. I've been a nominal Spurs fan ever since I managed to collect the entire team when I was eleven. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Good for you guys. I'm with you. I'll play basketball, but watching an NBA game ranks right up there with watching a MLB game as far as the chances of me ending up falling asleep are concerned, and as far as college goes, I only take an interest in the tournament when it's down to around the final sixteen or so, unless I happen to be in a pool. I usually let the woman fill in the brackets, though, and she tends to do it based solely on names/states she likes, and often ends up doing pretty well.