LT G has such a gift for telling the story of war. Not just the surface story, but the underneath raw emotion of it as well.

Ah, to have such talent. But it is a such a gift for us to be able to read his stories in the blogosphere.........for free!

Methinks one day people will pay him generously for his talent.

Do not be so sure, Mr. J.

We will dig deep for another quarter at the arcade, or pay $9.95 for the subscription savings on the hobby magazine that may fill a few hours of weekend sloth.

Men who write from the dark edges - the real dark edges they tread daily, and sometimes fall from, men like that... well, who pays to be reminded they owe a debt they cannot pay?

It's just common sense. And conscience.

I hope he ends up telling those stories to his grandkids. That's all I ask.

I don't get it. What's your point?

It seems fairly reasonable that if we're not willing to grant citizenship perqs, like some sort of common defense against outrageous fortune, then the only thing we're defending against is the war of all against all, clearly favored by the Islamists. But within that strategy there are a lot of viable tactics. Is that where things should rest?

And given that scenario it's not entirely clear where I'd come down on Iraq, especially since there's a fairly substantial sunk cost involved. That is, the cost has already been paid. We've got to pull out some time, if we think the regime legitimacy of an Iraq government is even remotely important, so why not sooner rather than later? Or later rather than sooner? What's the argument?

I don't know why conservatives think health care is an entitlement, but perhaps it is... and anyone not entitled just deserves to go tits up.

But there's not much self interest in that policy position. It seems not that far removed from expectation that the Kurds should oppose Saddam, absent assurances of support from the US, just because he was such a clearly stinky dude. That didn't work out too well, did it?

Seriously, are you in favor of, or opposed to, some sort of guaranteed (or at least soft landing) health care?

In the wake of the Civil War the GAR recognized its leverage on conscience, and demanded monetary compensation for the carnage they'd endured "for the sake of the Union." If we're in it together, then we're in it together. Why not be proactive about it?

Man, I'm beginning to really lose my patience. Sorry, but I don't like this website. The windowing just drives me nuts. Everything runs together, and I can't tell the difference between a post and a comment. It's a visual train wreck. Maybe I should quit the internet, and move to Switzerland. Maybe I ought to have done that five years ago.

I have no idea what you are talking about -- either in the context of this item or in terms of "windowing."

Your entire reaction seems so off-point that I am inclined to think you have wandered in from an alternate website.

Are you sure it is not a medication issue rather than HTML?

Demosophist, this may come as a shock, but they have "internet" in Switzerland, and they're not exactly rolling out the red carpet for immigrants lately.

Here's a much simpler solution: take an axe to your computer and then set out to sea in a rowboat.

Methinks that "demosophist" has a similar style to the putz who uses the nom de screen "pierre" and often posts on Dr. Sanity's website (and has been put on notice by the Doc for his meandering, off-topic, and probably off-medication, posts). Anyone else see the similarities?

As for socialized medicine, I've been against it ever since I had its military equivalent in the Army. Living in Australia for a number of years didn't increase its attractiveness. Quite the opposite. And you have to ask yourself, if it's so great, why are so many Canadians headed south for their procedures, and why do so many Brits head to the Continent for theirs? Must be a reason.

Gerard:

The website design lacks sufficient contrast for my taste, but I'm color blind so it may not be an issue for most people. If others don't have a problem with it, or no one else has mentioned it, then maybe it's just me.

About the health care, I still don't get what you're saying by quoting excerpts suggesting that "rural white people" like health care coverage. Is this part of a series? How is God involved? I should think it's a truism that most people, white and black alike, support some sort of health policy that ensures them coverage, even when outrageous fortune puts them outside the ability to pay insurance premiums. But maybe I'm wrong, and the majority don't support that? They certainly don't support something called "socialized medicine."

However, given escalating costs for health care there probably isn't any solution that fits the bill without breaking the bank... so if there is to be a solution, it will probably have to await some big technological breakthrough... the most likely being nanotech.

But honestly, I still don't quite understand what you're saying. Maybe I missed an editorial somewhere? Your judgment is usually pretty good, if a little quirky (and who can't be accused of that?)

Ahh... I get it. I finally found the link embedded in the text to "What White People Like." Again, there wasn't any contrast on my browser, so it didn't appear to be a link... just text. I had to wave the hand around before it revealed itself as a link. Anyway, that's a pretty silly website. Point taken. There's a bogus concept in academe called "critical whiteness theory" and that website seems to have bought into it hook line and sinker.

Nah, the only meds I'm on are statins and blood pressure stuff. I'm holding out hope the little robots can make me good as new some day.

Well, now I take it back. After reading more of that "What White People Like" website, it's pretty funny.

By way of defending my overage, since Rev. Wright is making public rehabilitation such an attractive art, my disgraceful behavior is apparently a logical consequence of my disgraceful karma. Having recently criticized Barack pretty heavily for his association with the Ayers/Dorhn twins some well-intentioned denizens of TPM Cafe warned me that there might be a psychological price to pay for attacking such a beloved public figure, standing so far above me in the firmament. As they predicted, I seem to have hit the old nail on the thumb.

JBean:

I can't believe I said that about Switzerland. I don't think they even make a decent whisky.

But seriously, I have real problems with the color scheme of this site, and its layout. Part of it is bad eyesight, compounded by congenital defects like color blindness. I actually read "men who write from the dark edges" as "men who write from the dark ages." Huh?

Nor was it remotely obvious why a quotation from "white stuff" was juxtaposed against a quotation from a milblogger. I do understand that those in service are somewhat disconnected from the disconnected domestic scene, but I tend to see that as at least partly the fault of this administration... which typically doesn't ask diddly of anyone, nor does it contribute diddly without reams of exhortation.

Maybe I just lack a funny bone.

And then there's my bad karma...