Some of the best comments I have read in a long time, from one of the worst headlines I have ever red. Read some of my favorite comments below. To read all of the comments, click on the link below.
By WestTexasBliss
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Bush talks peace, Democrats war (Chicago Tribune Headline)
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May I also remind you that the rich have many more options for reducing the % of taxation. Tax shelters and such as compared to the poor who look only for shelter.
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I hope the Democrat pound this administration on hearings and everything to prosecute this administration.
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When Bush leaves office, his retirement benefits should be forfeited to help care for the Nation's sick, wounded, and ophans left behind by his crazy dictatorship war.
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It does not matter what Bush says -- he is close to being a pathological liar. Look at his actions instead, which are merely unconstitutional at best, criminal at worst. I hope the Democrats hamstring him for two years. Inaction is better than bad action. It will take a long time for America to recover from the long wasted years of Bushism that alienated people around the world and probably have contributed more to the growth of terrorism than Hussein did. Please, no more Bushes in national office. Please!!
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The President seems to follow these guidelines:
1) If you can't fix it, get a bigger hammer.
2) Don't confuse me with facts; my mind is already made up.
3) Listen only to those who agree with you.
4) Create facts by simply stating them.
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"Lost the will to win"?
Win what? We fought the terrorists who attacked us in Afghanistan. We beat them there, but didn't finish the job. We had no business in Iraq and invaded on the pretext of "Weapons of Mass Destruction" to cover the fact that Dubya and his staff botched the end of the Bin Laden/Al-Queda mission at Tora Bora. Bush wanted to be a "war president" for his next election campaign, so he got us stuck in Iraq. There is nothing left to win. Bush got re-elected and can now drop the whole mess on the Democrats. It's time to formulate a plan for leaving.
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Braden and William Tell, like ostriches, your heads are buried in the sand. Your "facts" are from fantasyland. Bush took this country into war on the basis of a series of lies, distortions, and fabrications. His Big Media and Big Money enablers helped him rip open Pandora's Box, and the resulting flood of dead and wounded Americans and Iraqis will be an everlasting blight on the honor of America. The blood-stained robots who serve this administration are not patriots. They learn nothing from history and experience. They never bleed. They believe that any solution lies only at the end of more guns. Neither they nor their children pay the price. To hell with them all. We must all pressure our legislators to stand up to the chest-pounding escalators. The Constitution must be restored and Congress must act as a real check on the imperial hubris of a rogue president. The one good thing that came out of this ightmare was the removal of Sadaam, but what a price in blood and treasure! The US must pull back and then remove its troops within the next six months. The US must renounce any claims on Iraqi oil and any intentions of keeping permanent military bases in the country. Defensive, international peace-keeping forces could then step in to begin to provide some security for the Iraqi people. International efforts to provide food, medical care, and the rebuilding of vital infrastructure could then begin. Our country owes a huge debt to the Iraqi people for our previous support of Sadaam and the destruction caused by two wars. The country is littered with mines, bombs, and depleted uranium that will continue to cause immense suffering. The clean-up and rebuilding of Iraq will take decades. The US has lost any standing as a leader in the clean-up and rebuilding effort. We can and must provide the bulk of the money, but leadership and control must be left in Iraqi hands with the help from the international community.
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Bush never once listened to anyone who disagreed with what he said...they were called un-American...well now Bush you will listen and do what your told as you were elected to do.
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Any war started with a lie cannot by definition have a positive outcome.
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After watching and reading the news and the debacle that Bush has caused to this country I have come to a conclusion. Bush, either one doesn't know what he's doing or two he has an agenda and will alter at nothing to accomplish it. After 9/11 I knew he was flapping his jaws about WMD and Irag, because of another nation, Korea openly claiming to have nuclear weapons. Since the so-called election of 2000 when Bush clearly broke the law and stole the election he has done nothing but lie, lie, lie. His so-called "war on terrorism" is nothing less than "war on the American people's rights." Since 9/11 he has violated the Constitution from his invading Iraq to invading our privacy of unwarranted telephone listening in, to opening our mail, to pushing another free trade agreement. By watching this guy one can clearly see that he is totally unworthy of the title of "The President." He continues to wreak havoc on our Constitutional Rights and Freedoms. His debacle in Iraq clearly tells us that he cares nothing about what the American people say or think. Anyone STILL believing in what he says, are so gullible that I have lake front property in the Sahara Desert I would like to sell them. This is a man that is UNFIT for the job and needs to be impeached along with the rest of his cronies.
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Now there's an irresponsible headline. You call yourself journalists?
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The problem in Iraq is multifaceted. Personally I would find it satisfying if Bush were impeached, tarred and feathered, given a B.B. gun and left in an alley in Tikrit, etc. However, since this will not be happening we need to face the situation honestly. We need to think about what we can actually do now. Not what should have been done. Through the actions of a small cabal of powerful and foolish men we have found ourselves responsible for the massive destabelization of an entire region. I want to see the troops home, and soon, however we need to do this wisely. It is tragic that we have lost 3000 American troops; it is more tragic however on a stricly numerical basis that hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have died as a result of the conflict. While pulling out we need to keep our diplomatic focus and humanitsrian support steadily on Iraq. We need to fix what we've done, for our sakes as well as theirs.
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In Braden's comment about someone trying to "control" Mr. Bush - he mentioned Democrats. At the top of the leadership of America is the President. The President is "controlled" by the American people. Or at least he is supposed to be. That is...he is controlled by the American people until he decides that the American people has it all wrong - so he will control himself. Most everybody had it all wrong - except the Bush administration. "Old Europe" had it wrong for "dragging its feet" when Mr. Bush was rallying the troops. The United Nations had it wrong for failing to join Mr. Bush in his march toward Iraq. All those people had it wrong. Mr. Bush's administration's strategy called for a quick war. There was only one major objective - a regime change. The war was going to be over in a jiffy. The war was not over in a jiffy. Something went bad-wrong. Maybe the plan could have been fixed if the fixers knew just where to look. Fascist Sympathisers? The American people had spoken softly for two years. Nobody listened. Eventually the American people used the big stick. Americans can do that. They control the country. Long live America!!!
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The Iraq war has been a great success - for Halliburton and its subsidiaries. There are millions of dollars unaccounted for, and the watchdog who brought at least that much info to public attention has been relieved of his duties, but the administration. Why do I talk about this? Because as a US citizen, I've become more and more concerned about the state of our political discourse. It's become a race to the bottom, led by the various partisan radio & tv hosts. As long as they can keep us divided, calling names and pointing fingers, the fat cats in Washington (on both sides of the aisle) are doing as they please. There is no longer ANY accountability for this administration. Wake up people; they're selling our country and our democracy out from under us. I'm disgusted that our employees in DC have become so mired in partisan politics that nothing worthwhile has been done in some time. And it will continue to be that way unless we manage to find a way to at least talk about our difference and come to compromises so that we can present a united front to our government. Maybe, just maybe we will go back to a government of, by and for the people.
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Who writes your headlines -- someone from the RNC or the White House? What are you going to call it a typo?
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Interesting comments which leaves me wondering who reads anything but the headlines? The lack of understanding this country's basis for its policy in the Middle East is astounding. I am afraid it goes back to the failure of our schools to produce citizens who are able to comprehend what is happening in the world around us and to be able to think independently. Thomas Jefferson understood that self government depends upon an educated electorate.
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I HOPE the Dems will do their best, especially to end the Iraq War and Bush’s support for the Maliki regime and it’s US-paid and armed sectarian death squads. But the war was illegal from the start (because Bush HAD TO have known there was no “WMD”). So he and Cheney should be impeached for war crimes. Not possible? Nixon and his VP were forced out and Gerald Ford ended another unjust war. It can be done again.
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The 9/11 hijackings were planned and executed by a small group of al Qaeda terrorists under bin Laden. Iraqi Shiites and Sunnis did NOT participate in the 9/11 attacks. So why did we invade Iraq? False intelligence on Iraqi WMD was the reason. They fight us in Iraq because we invaded their country, not because they follow bin Laden. Bush has this nation mired and trapped in a Mideast war, of his making, with no way out. He will be cursed by history for leading this country to ruin on false pretenses. There is nothing noble about calling yourself a conservative, being against abortion, being "pro-life", but ordering 20 year old soldiers to go to Iraq to die in a needless war. This war in Iraq was totally unnecessary, and now Bush doesn't know how to end it. It's watching "Vietnamization" all over again. Remember "peace with honor"? We all know how that ended in April 1975.
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Both the Democrats and the Republicans serve self interest. This rages from local to national politics. In the words of my Grandmother. "It aint never going to no better". When will we learn that to serve and not to self serve is a solution? This nation, founded on religious freedom and equality has failed to follow through. Token efforts are often exploited by those in power.
Recent comments that are critical of one person electing the Koran as the book to pledge his oath of office is only one example of our sickness. Frankly, I am a Christian, but I accept the rights of others to decide there fate. I honestly believe that Christ is not the only way to salvation. It is simply the best way I have found for myself. It is time to seek peace, but how to do that is elusive, people are very critical of Bush but in reality he has a rough job in Irac. Neither they (Islamic nor the Christian community) understand one another. They point more to differences than similarities. It is time to put opinion aside and talk about peaceful solutions. God would want that for us all. Bless you all.
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There are some veterans & other American citizens who seem to believe that the current conflict in Iraq is a defense of our homeland & our way of  life. I do not see how the military is defending America 12,000 miles away from a country that never attacked us. The only way to legitimize an invasion of a foreign country is to call it an act of self-defense. It's the only way you can maintain military morale & public support. Call it anything else & there is no rationale or motivation to fight. Think about it. What if the Iraqis invaded America in an attempt to oust Bush to force him to leave Iraq? Would you stand down, welcome them in, and let them install a new government? If a foreign army of any kind set foot on our soil & "accidentally" killed thousands of Americans (not to mention rape & tortured), would you as an American ever believe that it was because they were "defending their homeland"? And that the foreign army's soldiers were motivated by honor, duty & patriotism? Be careful how you use such words, for there is no honor in this war. And then after 5 years, the foreign army admits that things are getting worse, and then wants to add more troops to the fire? America's Iraq action was completely unilateral, unempathetic, self-interested, & unbecoming of a democracy (we never even let them vote on whether they wanted us to stay). We need to learn how to put ourselves in the shoes of others. America once used to be the envy of the world, but now we are quickly losing respect & influence. Travel abroad, and see for yourself among the ordinary citizens of the world, even among our traditional ancestral allies, the UK, Australia, and Canada. We are considered too proud, arrogant, & uninformed, and our foreign/military policy reflects that. We have more enemies now - and it is we who have created them. And we have fewer allies and supporters - and it is we who have driven them away. I still love the ideals of our country, but we are so far away from living their reality.
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 I now know why this country is in trouble. Too many people don't look beneath the surface of issues, or politicians. You make one clever headline (I thought) that begs the question; "wait, how can that be", compelling the reader to dig into the article where the intent of the message is anything but ambiguous. Yet half of Swamp Nation goes nuts over it, calling for your head because either they didn't read the content, don't understand it, or they simply feel deceived. Now you know how Bush was able to bamboozle half the nation into voting for him, no one looked under the lid. You weren't one of those were you (don't answer that, you might incite the other half).
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Well said.
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I'm very disappointed by the misleading headline. So much for objective journalism. But, alas, I'm not surprised, anything for a dollar, anything but the truth, anything but what is helpful -- this it the almighty creed of the multinational corporate serving "mainstream" media. Just like Vietnam, only when the war machine starts to negativly impact the corporate bottom line does the media even think to call for an end to the war. And even then, there is no in depth, critical look at the true motives behind our unprovoked attack on another soverign nation. There is no "free" mainstream media folks, its so squarly in the hands of multinational corporate interests, that it will be a small miracle if my comments are posted even here in this seldom read forum.
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There were good reasons why Bush Sr. and Colin Powell did not go all the way to Bagdad in Gulf War I. Bush Jr. did not listen to the experts and he did not listen to his dad. The fiasco in Iraq has cost U.S. taxpayers about a half trillion dollars thus far and by some expert estimates will cost two trillion dollars when taking care of severely wounded vets for 50 to 60 years is added to the cost. Two trillion dollars could feed, shelter, educate, and provide health care for a lot of Americans, rather than lining the pockets of military contractors.
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Bush is a warrior only when it comes to putting other people's lives on the line. He has never been interested in risking his own life for any cause. Check his real military record. He has always been and continues to be substantially less than courageous. He is a spoiled brat with seemingly less than average intelligence who got to be president through a legacy.
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Bush isn't going to listen to anyone but God. And when God says he's done well, we suffer.
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How sad. Bush talks peace while the Democrats talk war?? What an outrageous headline. Why does everyone make their opinion their own false reality (no matter what is actually going on in the world)? Shouldn’t an opinion be formed from a reality…not the other way? Ignorance: "a willful lack of desire to improve the efficiency, merit, effectiveness or usefulness of one's actions."
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Posted by Mark Silva at 10:06 am CST
Bush talks peace, Democrats war (Chicago Tribune headline)
Chicago Tribune