The government has always placed restrictions upon people's personal value system. There is not right for a rapist to rape, although that may be his preferred method of sexual gratification. Adults cannot have sex with children althought that may be their preferred method of sexual gratification. The government has always placed restrictions upon individual activities that have gone against the mainstream mores.

And that is why Colin Powell became the first African-American Secretary of State, right, what a great example of a W.A.S.P., or Condeleeza Rice the National Security Advisor and now Secretary of State, another fine example of W.A.S.P.. Not to mention Alberto Gonazalez, Linda Chavez, or private individuals like Dinesh D'Souza and Star Parker. Yeah the facts really support your claim on that one.

Once again you do not even understand what censorship means and you try to argue the point. Censorship is the suppression of published or broadcast material. Only a government can censor. Individuals who are called names or talked over can share opinions on MSNBC or CNN where they would be welcomed with open arms. FOX may have a conservative bent, however, the power to suppress someone is limited, for there are other avenues for these individuals to have their opinions heard. Only the government has the ability through the force of the law to suppress someone. Do not confuse censorship with freedom of association or even more basic choice. FOX does not have to allow anyone the right to speak on their network, they have the option and decision making ability to determine who does and does not appear.

And why is that??? It was the great idea of the progressives in this country to establish a welfare society, yet lo and behold, to qualify you could not have a job, you could not be married, and you couldn't try to better yourself. We created a system that rewarded risque behavior. Anytime someone can make more money from a welfare program than working, the system is wrong. WE created a never ending circle of governmental dependency, and when those of us who were working hard to support our families and pay are bills got tired we fought back and demanded more of our own money, and less handouts.

There are some simple facts that remain regradless of what the government tries to do to combat them, they include, if you abuse or use drugs or alcohol you are four times more likely to live in poverty, if you are a single parent household you have are more than 9 times more likely to live in poverty than a two-parent home. If you drop out of high-school you are 22 times more likely to live in poverty. All of these actions are the result of governmental programs that were created to help the poor. Welfare and public schools. Alcohol and drug use is a choice. If life too hard for you to make it, and you choose to do drugs and alcohol rather than face reality that is your choice.

So which is it, rights or liberties. We recognize that there are basic human rights that all people have naturally. Liberties are those that have been established by our Constitution for our citizens and need not always apply to all other individuals. GITMO is a detention facility that is being used to house enemy combatants and prisoners of war. Do not confuse these detainees with criminals, because they are not. The Geneva convention allows the holding of these prisoners until the end of hostilities. Since hostilies have not ended, they are still being held. It is that simple. For most there it has not even been three years that they have been detained, a far cry short of the some 7 years that some of our POWs were held in Vietnam.

We pressure our allies through other means than we do our enemies. I am sure that the women enjoyed their rights in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, including their right to be raped by Uday or Qusay, or did you conveniently forget about that right, or what about their right to be imprisoned for being married to someone opposed to Saddam, that must have slipped your mind too. It was one thing to say you support the rights of everyone to be free, and quite another to actually mean it.

Liberation from oppression and tryanny is the same all the time. Whether it be because of a rulers invasion of another country, or his abuse of power at home. Are we to only liberate those countries that have been invaded? Furthermore, seventeen UN security council resolutions were violated by Iraq, 17, this alone nullifies the cease fire of the first Gulf War end of hostitilies. So many seem to forget that part of the cease fire included compliance by Iraq of UN resolutions, well 17 were violated, that is exactly 16 more than necessary to resume hostilities.

Really, forced peace cannot work? Germany, Italy, and Japan seem like pretty good examples, but then again what's a little history to the truth.

At least the party does have past glory to be proud of having. Unlike our major opposition who have benefitted from this what have you done for me lately attitude of the current generation. What actions of the GOP have exactly done that, all you have provided was a bunch of rhetoric just like the talking heads on television. Provide details, provide specifics, just cause you say it doesn't make it so. Just because you have been told to believe it does not make it so. If the patriot act violates civil liberties, than so does RICO, not to mention every other law that stops criminal behavior, so lets just scrap them all.

Part of civil liberties is economic liberty. Republicans have fought to allow people to keep more of the money they earn rather than pay it in taxes. The democrats have talked about repealling the tax cuts and then have the nerve to lie and say that it is not a tax increase. Wake up, if you are paying 12% in taxes now, and it then goes back to the original 15% that is an increase of 3%, a tax raise.

Republicans have said let's privatize Social Security so that the people own their own retirement accounts, the democrats have fought it. The current system reverts to the government when you die unless your wife and children qualify, but once they no longer meet the requirements, the money belongs to the government.

dmk