Yeah, i don't remember Bill C. or George W.B. doing much of this either. Not sure about George H.W.B. or Ronald R., because i can't remember back that far.

Hey, many double standards are earned. Sorry, Bill, it's da facts.

What, no sift for this? It was awesome. It made me one hungry dancing gringo. Wish i could *promote it...

I'm with shimfish in general, but seriously... These "invocations" were not invocations. They're always puff-piece sermonettes disguised as prayer. 5% aimed at God, 70% aimed at audience education, and 25% aimed at just sounding wise. This is just another reason why churches should stay the hell away from political podiums; it pisses off those who don't believe, and it isn't even very christian to begin with.

Get the church out of the state, for the church's sake even more than the state's! The inauguration of a president is a fitting time for lots of prayer for the country and the new administration. But that should be done in homes and churches and quiet places, not on podiums in front of massive crowds in D.C. It's just wrong from almost every angle.

I guess i'd have preferred "where white will be alright", but i don't see racism in his comment.

Racism is hate or oppression prejudicially based upon skin color. It is the inability to see past race. Acknowledgment of differences between races (including constructive criticism) is not racism, that's just racial awareness, which is often a good thing as it promotes understanding, love and justice.

When we consider acknowledgment of racial differences and all forms criticism of others as hateful, we are being idiots who care only for the appearance of propriety and do not actually seek to love and understand those different from us.

I find few things as stupid as someone getting offended by someone else's beliefs. It's one thing to be offended when someone does something intended to cause offense (spitting, certain gestures, mocking your mother's weight, etc), but totally ridiculous to get pissy because someone else thinks their beliefs are correct and worth sharing. Annoyed, sure, be annoyed; it's easy to annoy people without intent. But offended? Sorry, but if you're a person who finds proselytizing offense, then you are stupid and plainly very insecure.

CrushBug is right, spoco2, you clearly know little about homeschooling or the myriad reasons for it. To assume it's just arrogance is pretty ignorant. There are great networks of homeschoolers for socialization, not to mention that many homeschoolers do extracurricular things like sports and music at public schools or other group settings. And it's honestly not hard to see how a reasonably intelligent set of parents could teach one (or even four) kids better than a professional who is tasked with corralling and instructing 30 kids who are at widely varying levels of ability.

That's not to say that there are some terrible home schooling stories out there, but there's always bad stories about all schools public/private/charter/home notwithstanding. If all you can think of when you hear about homeschoolers is creationists and shut-ins, then you know next to nothing about the subject.

I actually cheered when the dog made it back in through the gate.

Society has a vested interest in encouraging people to help each other. Thus a lawsuit against a good samaritan should rarely be allowed to proceed. But, neither should we put the bar on suing them too high. If the guy was drunk and the car never exploded, then it seems like a reasonable case to have proceed to court.

By the way, if you want Congress to start paying attention to what they are voting on, support this cause:

http://www.downsizedc.org/page/read_the_laws

No legislation without representation!!

I told you so. Not that that makes me any happier.

Woah. That's a pretty wild sound. If i were geekier, i'd make that my ringtone.

When i grow up, i wanna fly like the Hoff-man does.

Yeah, i don't consider the wars a conservative thing in the least. Bush is a lousy conservative. Conservatives should cut taxes, but also cut spending. Fail. Conservatives should be corporate friendly, but not give corporate welfare. Fail. Conservatives should support national defense, but not offensive wars and nation building. Fail. Conservatives should not be pushing moral law (drug war, anti-abortion, etc) at the federal level. Fail. Conservatives should not pass abominations like No Child Left Behind, Patriot Act or Real ID. Fail.

Bush is a bad liberal and a worse conservative. I don't know why people don't see this.

Upvote for the splits. Very impressive.