In These Times

Latest Comments view all 35

• • 14 Jul 06
  • 8:10 am

  Tell me the composition and voter turnout of each House district, whether there's an incumbent, whether he or she is swing or hard line idealogue, whether the district has re-elected incumbents forever, and you might make some educated guesses about the House. Most of the polls published about people wanting a Democratic House are worthless. They are across the board polls. We don't elect House members that way however. Some voters use national issues when voting for a Congressperson; some don't. Some will vote for another party is the Incumbernt did him a favor or has brought jobs to the district …

  Posted to Do you think the Democrats will win back control of Congress this fall?

• • 05 Jul 06
  • 9:32 am

  I agree w/whattheheck let prices rise. invest more in trains. but mass transit won't serve to meet the way americans have spread themselves out in suburbs. foolish planning, sure. but that's where most of us are. the democrats i hear make generalizations about alternative fuels and massive govt subsidies for alternatives. but unless prices float higher, the market won't be there no matter how much is dumped into "research". the alternative fuel subsidy could end up like a lot of Pentagon projects: cost plus spending; no quality controls; few penalties for failure; and a few large companies getting rich and new …

  Posted to Running on Empty

• • 05 Jul 06
  • 9:19 am

  criminal penalties for users and small time dealers don't work; there's a consensus here about that. however, even legal drugs can be abused, and adulteration would continue if dealers convinced users that there is "better" stuff than what's legal. there would still have to be regulation, like for prescription drugs. Is anyone suggesting marijuana or cocaine be "over the counter" or just available on the streee without any safety checks?

  Posted to What do you think about the decriminalization of some illicit drugs?

• • 04 Jun 06
  • 9:22 am

  next time you demand the USA pull out of iraq like yesterday, think of whether the killings will go up or down in the following weeks, and who will be killed. Hurl insults at poor ol inarticulate bush all you want to "entlightened" liberals. He did not invent the Islamists. They are real; they are tough; and they intend to bring back the middle ages with a vengeance. And millions of Muslims around the world think that is just fine.

  Posted to Iran Exports Anti-Gay Pogrom to Iraq

• • 04 Jun 06
  • 5:23 pm

  The West needs oil. The nations of the Middle East have oil. there is on reason to believe that Iran or any party in Iraq would not want to sell oil to the US. Oil should dominate our policy. We should have businssmen, a reasonable embassy in Baghdad and in Tehran, and no troops in either nation. Under Ike, the business of America was business. He got us out of Korea, had a brief and relatively non-violent landing of Marines in Lebanon who promptly left, and all in all was the most peaceful postwar President. I like Ike.

  Posted to Why Exiting Iraq Wont Be Easy