White House secrecy, and the US Supreme Court (no spam)

Tom2 · Post by **Tom2** » Tue May 04, 2004 8:27 am

I guess we could be due a banana skin any time soon now.

wait a minute berlusconi, chirac and blair...

fable · Post by **fable** » Tue May 04, 2004 8:28 am

Originally posted by Moonbiter
I have stated earlier that I think things move in cycles. In the case of the US politics, the cycle repeats itself rather often, like every 20 years or so, since it seems to me the people have a "national memory" of about your average goldfish, and a quite astounding inability to learn from past mistakes. Not that we don't over here in Europe, it's just that we need about 50-100 years between each time we step on the same banana peel. So yes, I'm an optimist.

Argybargy! I think that you Europeans have a memory retention that is every bit as short as ours; and that offered the choice of two evils, you, too, will unerringly choose the worse. However, lacking the resources, you simply haven't been offered the opportunity to make the heroic blunders on the world stage that you used to. We broadly claim that honor, today.

Moonbiter · Post by **Moonbiter** » Tue May 04, 2004 8:39 am

I beg to differ, dear sir!

We shipped our worse cases over to the New World, hence we are now both slow and rather thick. You, on the other hand, are always in a hurry. When WE step in the doodoo, the whole world needs about 75 years to heal. When you do, nobody remembers the next week.

Tom2 · Post by **Tom2** » Tue May 04, 2004 8:44 am

Not quite sure you are completely right fable. I do of course think that moonbiter is wrong though.

I think that 2 world wars going over Europe in one century have created the political will to cooperate between the nations to a greater extend (not great) and also dented the will to conquer.

That said - if any European nation possessed the political and military power that the US does today that nation would surely be making similar mistakes to the US. But where the US spends a Huge amount of money on the military Europe, in general, spends a Huge amount on social welfare.

RandomThug · Post by **RandomThug** » Tue May 04, 2004 9:35 am

@Moon perhaps i am coming off wrong or not completly evaulating your comments, correct me if I am presuming too much but let me elaborate...

I live in a neighboorhood that has predomiantly white. Not 90% or 80% but 76% white. Recently there has been women being raped around the area by, what witnesess claim a medium build older african american male. As a police officer I have my normal commute, I come by an old beat up truck and in the corner of my eye see a man I havent seen before. Someone who perfectly fits the description, sure the descriptions vauge and broad but this guy fits it so I pull him over. In my attempt I've come across he has no ID on him and appears to have several tattoo's i can recongnize as gang related.

I take him in. Is it profiling? Yes. Is it completly fair that I pulled him over because he fit such a vauge profile? No. But was I doing the best I could to keep my community safe because that is my job... now Im no Ann Coulter trust me, and I am completly against what this topic was started about...

I feel for your friends passing and wish the best... but by "illogical" I mean in the sense of the "Because he is a Pakistani moslem politically active in the civil rights movement"

Define civil rights movement and maybe I can speak a little more apathetic. And if they have looked into it and found nothing but still hold him then thats crap... I would find it illogical to think that whoever is in charge of security there would not be a little precacious. Considering the facts...