Grade George W. Bush's Presidency thus far

[The Duke]

Progress is one twisted fool.

I support having a fire department, because it performs an important service.  Firefighters die every year in the line of duty.  I am not a firefighter, and don't plan to become one.  Am I a hypocrite?

I support having a police force to fight crime.  Cops die every day in the line of duty.  I am not a cop and don't plan to become one.  Am I a hypocrite?

I supprot having roads.  Yet being a transit wroker is one of the most dangerous jobs out there, and hundreds of transit workers are hit by cars every year doing road construction.  I am not a transit worker and don't plan to become one.  Am I a hyopcrite?

The argument that in order to have the right to have an opinion on something you must personally involve yourself in that thing is totally illogical, yet it seems to be the basis for your nonsensical belief system.

[The Duke]

Anyway, I voted C-, which is what he's spent most of his life getting.

[The Duke]

Anyway, I voted C-, which is what he's spent most of his life getting.

John,

You know I like you a great deal and have the utmost respect for you as I have indicated on several occasions in the past. But with all due respect, your "C-" comment about Bush is absolutely ridiculous as you've never walked a mile in his shoes. You have NO idea what it takes to maintain an "A" or even "B" average at an Ivy League school. The grading is done almost entirely on a curve, meaning that a certain percentage of people are doomed to low grades under all circumstances. Then factor in the level of competition as virtually everyone you compete with is a former Valedictorian, or at the very least, in the top 1-2% of the nation in SAT scores, grades and/or high school class ranking. And to complicate matters even further, if you have the audacity to be a Conservative, and you're actually dumb enough to speak your mind to your professors, then you face yet another steep obstacle in your efforts to establish a decent GPA. This is what George Bush faced in college, and as someone who has been down the same road as Bush, I can tell you that it's a little harder to get good grades at an Ivy League school than Cal State-Bozo, or SUNY-Halfwits, or any other variation of the generic state schools.

I didn't really mean to say that people that get a C in Harvard are dumb, it was a snide comment because I think George Bush is not that smart a guy.

The argument that in order to have the right to have an opinion on something you must personally involve yourself in that thing is totally illogical, yet it seems to be the basis for your nonsensical belief system.

First off you can have whatever opinion you want.  But if you ask others to kill and die for a cause and you claim to feel strongly about it you should be willing to make the same sacrifice.  It is my opinion that if you don't have the balls to fight for a cause you advocate that puts thousands and thousands of American lives at great risk you are a coward and a chickenhawk.

And going to war is not comparable to other jobs.  Our jobs don't require us to wake up every morning with the goal of killing other people.  That is a very serious thing to ask someone and it should not be taken lightly.

No, Progress, thats just bad logic.  A cop absolutely wakes up every morning knowing he might have to kill someone.  Cops shoot criminals and kill them all the time, so how is that different?

Next, let's say that I think the war in iraq is justified, but I simultaneously think the genocide in Darfur must be stopped.  Am I morally obliged to fight in both wars at once, or else be labeled a coward?  You are not making any sense, you're just being shrill.

[The Duke]

No, Progress, thats just bad logic.  A cop absolutely wakes up every morning knowing he might have to kill someone.  Cops shoot criminals and kill them all the time, so how is that different?

It is different because police officers do not wake up every day knowing that people are going to try to kill them and that they will have to kill.  To pretend that war is no different from being a police officer is absolutely insane.

You must not know many cops.  Cops in fact do wake up every day knowing full well they may die in the line of duty.  Every cop knows another cop who has been killed in the line if they do the job long enough, and they know that if they pull someone over for a busted tail light and that guy happens to be some gang banger that's packin' who doesn't want to pay a ticket then the cop may end up dead.  Yes, they do wake up every day knowing they may be killed.

[The Duke]

I'd still give him a C-.