Thank you Suz!!! I for one, do not believe in any type of a physical relationship outside of one man and one woman, however that i smy belief, and it has nothing to do with hw the cuontry is ran.
personally, if it could be proven that the president would be more competant and better qualified by having an entire harem (all consentual) of women lovers than I would say more power to them, lol. However as we all know, Who the President sleeps with or does not sleep with has absoultely no effect on the running of the nation.

Actually, Daniel, I'm not sure where you're getting your figures. Most government workers make significantly less than they would in the same position with a private company. Even their benefits are generally not as good (but they DO have them, which is something). Matter of fact, probably the only perk government workers get that most people don't is they get every major and minor holiday off with pay. Well, that and job security, it's damn near impossible to get fired or layed off by the government (federal anyway).

And, just to set the record straight, I am an "overglorified secretary" (not for the government) and let me tell you, I work very hard at what I do, probably harder than most people. I'm expected to have the same knowledge as my boss, plus all the knowledge they don't have, plus the smarts to figure out what we both don't know. I know many people believe that secretaries sit on their asses and hit the vending machines and talk on the phone with their friends all day but let me tell you, it is a very difficult and stressful job.

I'm not insulted or angry but I do think that you should be more careful when you start generalizing and making assumptions about people.

I am sorry Suz, I did not mean to suggest that a seceratary was lazy or anything. I have worked as a seceratary in the past and know it is a fairly hard position. As you said you are expected to know everything your boss does, and yo uare also expected to remember what he forgets.

What I was trying to express though, was the fact that there are way too many jobs that the person working in government (wether it is federal or state) gets paid more for than the one who is doing the same position outside of government.

A better example would be a laundry worker. Someone who washes laundry in a civilian hospital makes minimal wage, or just above minimal wage. You put them in a government hospital (for example a military hospital, and yes military hospitals are government hospitals), and their pay increase almost half again. I know this because my primary job in the military was laundry and shower services, where I set up laundry points and shower points in order for hospital personel to maintain hygiene and such while deployed. I have looked into getting a government position in the same exact position I held, and I have looked into it at a local hospital, several different times, and the pay differance was half again more for the government side than the non-government.

the Fairness Doctrine...
retire...lol

IT'S NOT A PRIVATE ISSUE. In the military you can be discharged for having an affair with anyone.

Well, this isn't the military, thankfully. I'm sorry to disagree but while sleeping with someone other than his wife is a matter between husband and wife only. If it doesn't interfere with the running of the country, it's none of my business or yours who he ****s or where or when

I was waiting for someone to say that. BUT YES HE IS. The president hold the HIGHEST MILITARY POSTION OF THE LAND. There for YES it is my business

I guess that's one way of looking at it. But, technically speaking he isn't in the military, he's as much of a private citizen as anyone else. However, don't I recall (sorry, too lazy to go back and reread) you saying you weren't in the military? Therefore, if I'm correct, again, I fail to see where it's any of your business. I'm I'm mistaken, I apologize.

Why do you think Slick Willy was in such HOT WATER for his blow jobs

It's been in place for a few months now BTW.

And, he never planned on bringing anyone home. The troops will be redistributed to other countries...

IF YOU HOLD THE HIGHEST MILITARY POSTION THEN YES YOU ARE "IN THE MILITARY". THATS WHY THEIR MILITARY RECORD COMES IN TO PLAY. sLICK WILLY AND OBAMA WERE NOT IN THE MILITARY AND THAT FACT CAME UP. SO YES THEY ARE NOT ABOVE ANYONE ELSE IN THE MILITARY. THEY NEED TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE

You can quit shouting at me, s'il vous plait. I have been very polite to you, even if I disagree with your point of view. People can disagree, you know. How boring would the world be if we all held the exact same point of view. But, shouting and yelling at people to try to get them to agree with you is pointless, in case you haven't figured that out yet. All it does is alienate people and when that happens, you tend to get ignored. It doesn't matter whether you have a valid point of view or not.

So, on that note, I am ending my participation in this conversation, not because I can't defend my point of view but because I choose not to engage in an uncivilized "conversation."

And again, it SHOULD be a private matter.

No it isnt any of YOUR business. Nor is it any of MINE, nor Suze's. It's not nay of adj's business, it's not Mike's Business, shall I continue?
The Government sticks its nose into way too many things that is none of its business, and the affairs (literally in this case) between two or more people are noe of the governments business.

because people like you were willing to buy the newspapers and watch the tv specials concerning it. And that is the ONLY reason it was so glorified.

either way, as long as we get iraq to take responsibility for themselves within a reasonable time-frame (I say 6-12 months), and we redesignate all of our active duty soldiers across the land as needed (appropriately), and send all of our reserve and guardsmen home, then I will be happy.

No they are not in the military themselves. And to prove this point look at this little known fact. the President holds two offices by technicality: Commander-in-chief (which yes is the commander of the armed forces, but it is ONLY during peace time, and certain times of war or actions) and also commander-of-homeland (lack of better term), where they are in command of all our homeland issues, such as medical, finances, etc.
In the military, the highest ranking officer for the army is a four star general, normally. However in war time- the commander in chief is authorized, and capable of appointing a fifth star to the highest ranking four star general, thus making him the highest rank. This fifth star general then takes over the office of commander in chief (yes, he takes over the position of commander in chief), in specific regards to the war and everything to do with the conflict. The President has this authority specifically because he (or she) is unable to fully perform his job properly if he has to figure out tactics and such, while still looking at the civil side of the country. It is also there for those who have less experience, or none in the military.

And for all of you who argue that our president should have been int he military, look back inhistory and see howmany really ever were inthe military to begin with. I dont know the numbers but I will bet they are larger than you could imagine. And most of them were not in major leadership positions while they WERE in service either.

USING CAPS IS NOT SHOUTING. BUT SINCE YOU FOND OUT YOU WERE WRONG I GUESS YOU HAD TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING TO MAKE YOURSELF LOOK CORRECT. HOWEVER YOU'RE NOT.

Well, this morning I heard he got up had breakfast with his kids, went to the gym and started receiving security briefings. Sounds like a logical start to me.

He made a campaign pledge to review the signing statements of Shrub and that appears to be happening. Addressing those issues is a biggie. It is complex and touches many areas of legislation. I am sure at least some of them will be addressed and plans to properly deal with them will be in place by January. So maybe early on we will hear some specifics regarding them.

I am keenly interested in his cabinet appointments. I've heard many names floated but not from the Obama people. Who ever he goes for especially in the areas of defense, security and finance they will have a lot of work ahead of them.

Sounds like Gates will stay on at defense for at least awhile. That's also a good start I think to make for a safer transition.

While I hope it doesn't happen early on during the next four years there may be some vacancies on the SCOTUS. Who he looks to in terms of appointees will be very interesting. Even very conservative members at Harvard law say Obama has a very keen understanding of the Constitution and the judiciary. This is an area that has always been interesting to me and I am sure it will continue to be with Obama in office.

As I said in another post one man cannot right the ship of state, nor can he do it with just the officers. He needs all hands. Ladies and gentleman we all crew this ship. So, I suggest we begin to work together and give up the politics of division. If not we all lose.

These times require us to unite. I told you so won't mean much if we are destroyed by our own unwillingness to work for each other.

Sorry, dude, but ask anyone who uses the internet, and they will ALL tell you, using all caps is considered yelling or shouting.