God in judgment

Today 20 kids lost their lives. 

Mike Huckbee has an opinion.


So do I.“[W]e’ve made it a place where we don’t want to talk about eternity, life, what responsibility means, accountability — that we’re not just going to have be accountable to the police if they catch us, but one day we stand before, you know, a holy God in judgment,” Huckabee said. “If we don’t believe that, then we don’t fear that.”

Why would I fear a God who is so ineffective as to be totally unable to at least call the cops before the shooting starts? It never has before. Or maybe this god is malevolent and shouldn't get our attention. Or is uncaring and there is no point in our attention. Or. There is no god. Mike Huckabee... you've wasted your life on something that doesn't exist. How sad for you. Not nearly as sad as losing 20 kids you think could have been prevented with fear and superstition. Action by us here and now could have prevented it, not fear and superstition. Those kids have lost their one and only lives, they do not go to a better place. They are lost to us. Their lives have been lost, they will never be who they could have been. We will never know who they could have been. This is the price paid for supposed rights (god given in some minds) of gun ownership and personal responsibility that limits aid to mental illness. 

The first five shots I blame on the lack of health care in this country, the rest on the NRA.

There is Always a Price

I was listening to George Hrab's Geologic Podcast episode where he replies to a new atheist about the loss of a loved one.  George made a point I had known but never knew how to put into words.

Everything has a cost or a price.  That car you want.  The career you strive for.  The power or status you crave.  Also other things less materialistic like ethics and morals.   Learning and research.   But maybe the heaviest price is paid for friendships and relationships.

This isn't saying it is bad to pay a price for these things, only that it is there in many forms.  And it may be that the emotional price of a relationship is the biggest for most of us.

When do we pay the price?  Sometimes the relationship is costly as it progresses no matter how it ends.  A relationship may be costly at the beginning for many reasons.  But it seems that at the end of a relationship is where the highest costs are, especially with death, because this is when the realization that you'll never be seeing that person (or pet) again sets in and the sorrow for the loss is the final emotional cost of that relationship.

I think the price is worth paying for a good relationship and most of us do.  Some of us avoid the price by avoiding or limiting relationships which I think limits life too much.  But other people avoid the cost by pretending there is a place where we all go when we die, where the relationship will continue for eternity as if that is a desirable thing.  Besides the fact that this is totally made up with no evidence, it is also cheating, diminishing the price of the relationship lost.  "Oh, I'll just see mom in Heaven when it is my time" is a dismissal of the relationship.  To diminish the cost of the loss with wishful thinking about an afterlife is denial of the cost of the relationship.  It's like shoplifting a candy bar, a short quick satisfaction and doesn't really satisfy the hunger and has it's own cost.

I don't think most people really feel all that much better thinking that there is an afterlife.  The loss is huge, the pain is real, the sorrow is deep for most of us anyway.  Why cheapen the meaning of the relationship with this fantasy/wish for a later reunion?

There might be more thoughts on this...

Where am I going?

To all my friends and family; I pray that you know for sure where you are going after this brief stay in the World. If you cannot say, without absolute confidence, then you are being or have been decieved. Fortunately, the choice is yours. I am not here to argue with you about your beliefs. If you want to try and argue it, then take your argument to your Creator. There is only One True God and one Way to Him. Don't wait any longer to receive His free gift of Salvation!
"Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines.-" Hebrews 13:9a

• 3 people like this.
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  ---------------- AMEN BROTHER!! "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23

  52 minutes ago · Like
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  Tom Hail To my cousin David who I have enormous respect this is one thing I cannot be silent about. With absolute confidence I know that when I die, the carbon in my body will recycle into the earth, my water will recycle into the environment, my mind will stop thinking and dreaming. My soul will die with my mind. All that will remain is the memory of me by others and the results of my efforts, primarily my daughters and their lives to come after mine. To believe otherwise is at best wishful thinking based on the deceit of religion. No mystery of the universe has ever been answered by the supernatural or magic. There is no evidence that any soul, despite hundreds of years of looking for it, remains after our death. Religion brings false hope for something better, allows for suffering to be endured for when, if good enough, you go to the better place instead of working harder to improve this life. To hope for an afterlife is wasted effort and diminishes the meaning of this life, your only life.

Killing children again.

Barrage of rocket attacks slam southern Israel

Over 30 rockets fired at Israel after missile hit IDF jeep on border patrol, injuring 4 soldiers; IDF tank shelling kills 4 Palestinians.

Christians United for Israel (CUFI)

Like This Page · 6 hours ago 

Prayer Alert- more than 30 rockets and mortars have been fired on Southern Israel. Israelis near the boarder with Gaza were told to stay within 15 seconds of a safe room. LIKE to join us in praying for the one million Israeli men, women, and children living under the threat of rockets tonight. http://bit.ly/Q4Pp5h


Not mentioned is that the Israeli retaliation resulted in the death and injuries of children.

‎/S Ooh! Ooh! The religious cranks killing the other religious cranks's children again because they killed their children for killing those children through slow starvation and depravation because their children were killed with suicide bombing children. And then there's the other religious cranks who will kill to keep an unborn child alive at all costs standing on the side egging on the fighting that kills children in hopes of the big killing spree that brings on the magical guy who will make everything better after everything is horribly horribly worse. Awesome. Bronze aged magical thinking armed with 21st century weapons. /SarcasmOff Reason #37 why I am an angry atheist.

Like prayer has helped at all in the last 60 years or so.

Movement conservatives have traded truth for certainty.

"Mike.K. says:October 29, 2012 at 4:01 am

I have to say on your “big government” comments on conservatives:

Most conservatives are authoritarians. They want small government for *themselves*. They want big, authoritarian government for people they don’t like. I’ve mentioned the base’s drive towards “punishment politics” before. They are often people who either want to be lead, or want to be part of the goon squad so they can give a beating to “those” people. They have made themselves the hero of their invented past of lies for so long, and everyone else the villain, that they really believe that God Himself will make sure they and they alone are on the right side of the gated fence and the right side of the billy club. Remember that with Bush’s election they were promised a thousand year reign of Good Christian Conservatives, and so they already think their ascendance to power was stolen by hippies and uppity women and minorities and gays.  

This is part of why they will applaud torture and applaud the thought of leaving someone to die. They are OK with sending their children to war, knowing some will die, as long as more brown people and unbelievers die than their own. They are fine with back ally abortions, as long as they can buy their own daughters an airline ticket and that more poor and colored die than their own. They were fine with the dismantling of unions, as long as it was laborer-class jobs sent overseas. They are fine with pissing away billions on a war on drugs, as long as more of “those” people get swept off the streets. 

Movement conservatives have traded truth for certainty. As a result, words no longer have meaning. If you don’t understand talk of “big government”, it’s because you’re trying to make sense of the lyrics of Wingnut Jazz. It doesn’t make sense because it doesn’t make sense. It just scares you with big government spending by big government democrats for big government liberals to re-educate your children with socialist indoctrination, think of the children!, until Sarah Palin gets up on stage wrapped in a flag and brandishing her Bible, her hair did up and her tits nice and bouncy under her big big smile (just for you!), spinning a soothing chord of the Jazz, about the Founding Fathers and their Common Sense Constitutional Freedom Solutions based on Conservative Values and the Christian Bible of Jesus.  

And then you write her a check."

Lying Romney Bastard

Having spent a couple of days in Colorado seeing all the Romney ads I am flabbergasted at the level of lying coming from his mouth.  And the PAC ads.  Fucking amazing.  And people are buying this shit.  I guarantee you Romney will do nothing to reduce the deficit.  National debt will not go down one dollar.  He has no plan, I've looked, there isn't anything there but jingo words, carny talk, outright lies and blither blather about what he will do.  He can't do what he says, it will cost everyone but the top 5% more, and he will drag this country into the ditch.  The stupid fuck only cares about getting elected, gives not one whit about anyone else.

Reality Check GOP

Like they say, you are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts.

1. Unemployment rate is not higher now than when Obama took office. It is the same or lower. 4.5M more people are employed than when he took office.
2. The deficit did not double under Obama. It has declined every year.
3. Corporate profits are as high as they ever have been.
4. Romney did support the Blunt amendment to Obamacare.  And then didn't.  And did.  Who knows.  The Blunt amendment says an employer can decide if your health insurance covers contraception.

Another FB battle. Lara Logan

Sorry for the formatting... just capturing another FB argument.

Catherine Gile likes an article on The Daily Beast.
Saturday at 5:15pm ·

She is an outstanding woman.
Lara Logan’s War Cry
www.thedailybeast.comThe CBS News and ‘60 Minutes’ correspondent stunned a Chicago audience with her interventionist critique of America’s response to the attacks in Libya. James Warren reports.

Catherine Gile It's refreshing to see someone in the mainstream media brave enough to speak out loudly.

October 13 at 5:17pm · Like

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Bob Stone She knows firsthand of the violence as she was attacked personally while in Egypt covering the situation there. She barely survived.

October 13 at 8:56pm · Like · 1

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Tom Hail She is an outstanding woman and I've always respected her reporting. I would have to question her impartiality after what happened to her in Egypt. She knows first hand we can't "Shoot ’em, bomb ’em, fuck ’em. They will kill your children." without killing their children. That makes me think she is on a revenge thing for the attack on her. What a mess. There is no solving it almost to anyone's satisfaction.

October 13 at 9:51pm · Like

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Bob Stone Tom of course she has a "Revenge thing" going on. I want revenge on the ones that attacked her and also the ones that killed our people in Lybia. It's not REVENGE it is called JUSTICE!!! Someday there will be a time you will have to stand and fight and protect your family and yourself, WILL YOU???

October 14 at 8:07am · Like

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Tom Hail And she'll get justice from who? She was attacked in Egypt by the religion of Islam with its medieval regard for women. Not by Al-Qaeda or the Taliban who are just parts of that religion of ignorance. Libya is, with it's Islamic drivers, a power struggle. Is justice being sought by the US? I think so! When has it not? By Obama's administration more so than the last administration who got distracted by Iraq. She advocates a level of conflict that would be global in nature. Against who? WWII was against specific countries and foes. Fighting Islam and its people with force will accomplish nothing, much like the war on drugs. Only education and time will end this and I don't see it happening with stupid shit like this. Will justice be achieved from everyone's point of view? No. Never. Only education and prosperity will end it. Stand and fight? That is what I do every day.

October 14 at 9:33am · Like

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Bob Stone FIGHT! For what and for whom. Actions speak louder than words and time is running out.

October 14 at 9:44am · Like

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Tom Hail Time is running out? What is the timeline? There is a deadline? We have all the time it takes to either solve the conflicts or destroy ourselves.

October 14 at 9:46am · Like

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Bob Stone The timeline runs out for every member of our armed forces that is killed or wounded and the people such as Lara Logan and the little 14 year old Pakistani girl who only wnated an education. Talk to a GOLD star family about timelines. You say you stand and fight everyday, again for what and for whom??

October 14 at 10:03am · Like

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Tom Hail Ha! And how many thousands more service men and women will die following Logan's path? Not to mention civilians. By your reasoning, time has already run out. I fight for a prosperous future for my kids, my community, my nation, my species. Prosperity brings justice. Education brings prosperity. Fighting indiscriminately does not. In the short term hunting the Libyan terrorists is necessary but it doesn't bring justice for everyone. Some satisfaction for some, but that doesn't solve anything.

October 14 at 10:28am · Like

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Bob Stone By prosparity,do you mean money, wealth,being better than your neighbor, having more than anyone less fortunite? You will fight for yourself only, or will you stand and fight for all people who are not allowed to "Prosper" in the way you GOT YOURS. What if you were not fortunate to be born in America and have the opportunities you had all your life. Is justice being you and letting the less fortunate of the world FIGHT and DIE just wanting to get and education so they too can prosper same as you? Some people have to fight for their lives before they can fight for their prosperity.

October 14 at 10:59am · Like

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Tom Hail No, prosperity is living without fear with food and shelter and being able to grow and explore. The point is to understand that the need to FIGHT and DIE isn't the only way to prosperity. Education gets people there. Someday it may be clear to everyone. In the meantime people will continue to fight and die futilely. Logan's way.

October 14 at 11:34am · Like

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Bob Stone OK then. Some people have to fight for their lives before they can fight for an education to become prosperious. Freedom isn't free! It's paid for by the ones who have fought and died for it. That is fact not futile attemts.

October 14 at 12:06pm · Like

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Bob Stone ATTEMPTS.

October 14 at 12:06pm · Like

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Catherine Gile If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything. Freedom is not free I don't care what university taught you otherwise. There are people out there who hate you because you do not think like they do and btw they far out number you.

October 14 at 1:00pm · Like

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Tom Hail Huh? It's pretty easy to say the old trope "freedom isn't free" and not really understand it. The cost of freedom isn't just fighting and dying in defense of it. You also have to fix the causes for the conflicts and military actions can not do that. Did I say not to defend yourself? To not bring to trial those responsible for terror or crime? Have I said anything like that? Have I not spent 30+ years of my life as a defense contractor engineer? I am not a pacifist. Sure they outnumber me, but you know what? This country is doing very little to solve the problems. Mainly because of attitudes of fear like yours. It prevents solutions. Believe it or not, progress is being made, prosperity is increasing around the world over the last 100 years. But I see that fear and irrational thinking can easily undo years of progress.

October 14 at 9:29pm · Like

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Catherine Gile My attitude is not fear based it is reality based. What progress are you talking about, the progress of progressive thinking people?

October 15 at 8:57am · Like

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Bob Stone HUH???? Defence Contractor Engineer( nice title). If fighting for freedom insn't an answer to keeping free and "prosrerious" what are you doing working for a DEFENCE CONTRACTOR? You must hate your job supporting and supplying the tools of war to this nation. I also put my entire professional life in service to keeping this country safe while working for the Dept. of Defence DARCOM, plus a tour in the U.S. Army in Vietnam seening the reality of what FIGHTING for freedom means . I most likely just don't get it.

October 15 at 9:09am · Like

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Tom Hail Fact. The rate of starvation in the world has decreased, military conflict decreased, health improved over the last 100 years. That is progress. If it improves for everyone, the fear and injustice declines. Your attitude does nothing to improve it and can cause it to set back. Here is an old trope " lead, follow, or get out of the way." If we aren't leading the world to improve, they will push us out of the way. We are leading today but barely. That can change easily with isolationist fearful thinking. Bob, you made my description of my job a title. I am the Milstar Flight Engineering Manager at in addition to being the spacecraft Certified Principle Engineer for on-orbit operations. Milstar is a communications satellite supporting all branches of the US DOD and State Dept. We strive for and achieve nearly 100% dependability of that constellation of satellites. I do not hate my job. Not the technical side anyway. I am proud of our support to the troops around the world whatever they are doing. I know what they have been doing. One of the most deadly things to a guy on the ground is to lose communications with his team, leadership, and command. The dependable flow of information also means that fewer innocent people get killed, that unnecessary destruction is not wrecked. I also know the flow of diplomatic information saves lives and helps find solutions. That is the part I can do. What they do with it in the Pentagon and White House can only be affected by my vote. Bush was an idiot, Cheney a crook, they killed thousands of our troops, squandered our resources in Iraq and fucked up Afghanistan. Why you would vote for Romney/Ryan blows my mind, they are the same idiots and not smart enough to be crooks! Fighting for freedom comes in many different forms, not just with military force. Occupy Wallstreet was a freedom fight. The blasphemy rights fights, civil rights, gay rights.... they are all freedom fights. You were part of a very violent fight but not the only fight.

October 15 at 9:00pm · Like

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Bob Stone Tom, thank you for your clarification of your job description. Keep um flying. The decisions that are made in the White House affects what happens in this country and now the world over. As far as the flow of dipllomatic information saving lives goes ,One Ambassidor and three others dead and no solution in site!! Another four years of Obama and company is all the reason needed to change leadership . Hope your satellite can find an answer.

Yeah, we can keep blaming Bush.

"It just doesn’t feel like Obama has ruined America. Republicans used to talk a lot about this thing called the stock market, and how it helped not just the rich, but middle class folks whose pensions and 401ks depended on it, well now they never seem to mention the stock market. Perhaps, because under President Blackenstein the Dow has doubled, or as Republicans call it, devastating economic news.Now, there certainly still is poverty in our country, but it’s obviously among the underclass that you don’t see. The very people that today’s Republicans could give a sh*t about, so I don’t understand why they’re all so upset about the economy, except of course, it’s their big issue. So they have to pretend that America is a rotten compost where people are eating cat food and wiping their ass with the Pennysaver. And weirdly, Obama kind of has to pretend that too, because if he doesn’t, then he’s out of touch.
 So we all wind up living in this fictional picture of America that actually would be more appropriate for the year before Obama took office. Remember 2008? I do. That’s when Lehman Brothers collapsed and the market froze and they measuring GM for a pumpkin lot. And when you opened your bank statement you saw the drowned Japanese girl from The Ring, and then you died.And yes, I am saying we can keep blaming Bush for that. It’s the same as blaming rats for the Black Plague. Just because you’re sick of hearing historians saying it doesn’t mean it stopped being true. George Bush left a flaming pile of dog sh*t on the White House steps, and now it’s gone, and Mitt Romney has a hell of a nerve running on the idea that I’m going to fix the economy by restoring the policies of the party that destroyed it." 

~Bill Maher 10/5/12

Rant.

Any one out there paying attention ro what's going on in the Middle East?

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  Angelo Giurbino horrible! just horrible.

  10 hours ago · Like · 1
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  Bob Stone Everyday. But it seems the last couple of days the Biased news media,ABC,CBS,MSNBC,well you know,have not addressed the middle East but focus on covering for the Prez and his cabnet and the Ambasador to the UN. Scary ain't it???

  9 hours ago · Like · 1
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  Douglas McMahan Besides the fact that they throw rocks at each other? Nope, could care less.

  9 hours ago via mobile · Like
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  Lori Peters-Vaughn We watch the news everyday but the real news Fox. It seems to be the only place we can get what is really happening instead of helping to sweep under the carpet as Obama wants what really happened to our American citizens who were murdered in Libya and what is still happening in the Middle East

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  Catherine Gile Countries we send millions of dollars to are attacking our embassies chanting death to America, and burning our flag makes me hot!!! Not to mention the murdering of our ambassador or Navy Seals.

  5 hours ago · Like
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  Lori Peters-Vaughn Exactly! And then Obama and his minions want to still chant that this is all about some video makes me illl! This was pre-planned and made for the anniversary of 9-11. How our President has the audacity to apologize to the Muslim Extremist Nation makes me sick!

  
  

• Tom Hail Is Faux stirring up fear again? You think US intelligence is going to share with you what they know? And you want what to happen? Want to bomb someone? Who? Where? Stifle free speech? Listen to yourselves... not much removed from the Muslim rantings as far as I can see.

  5 hours ago · Like
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  Catherine Gile Off base there Thomas, killing our ambassador is no Fauz stirring up.

  5 hours ago · Like
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  Lori Peters-Vaughn Oh please Tom give me a break! Get your head out of the sand and wake up! This is not about free speech. This is about Americans being Slaughtered abroad and our President blaming it on some guy in CA who posted a video! Give me a break!!! You are a friend of Catherine so you can't be that stupid do you must be just a blind follower of come with me and I'll give you everything "Obama". Because he's done such a great job taking us 6 tril in debt and dissing our most loyal allies!!! Wake up!!!

  5 hours ago via mobile · Like
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  Tom Hail Ok. WHO are you willing to kill over it? Where are they? Precisely. Specifically. What did Obama look like he was doing as OBL was being killed? He was cracking jokes at the press club dinner. Do you think you get to see what is going on in the background? For the safety of the troop you profess to cherish, you get to see nothing. Bush's economic collapse caused most of the deficit you see now. Lost jobs caused lost tax revenue. Americans died. The killers are being hunted. Obama said so the next day. The asshole made the movie and pissed off the Muslim assholes. How could you expect less than this considering how pissed they got over a stupid cartoon.

  3 hours ago via mobile · Like
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  Lori Peters-Vaughn How long are you and OBAMA going to keep blaming Bush!!!! It has been FOUR years!! Bush didn't contribute 6trillion more in debt. Bush didn't get our Ambassador killed and blame it on a video Bush didn't Double the number o
  Food Stamps!!! Get Real!! I am not Dumb!! But you are acting like you are!

  3 hours ago via mobile · Like
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  Tom Hail When the facts change. Which they wont. The national debt went up $6T under Bush-II. Fact, look it up, the data is there. Most of that was tax cuts and war that were not paid for. Fact. At the time Obama took office the labor force had lost 4 million non-government jobs in the previous year. By your logic, that is Bush's fault. With the decline in tax revenue more jobs were lost by states and local governments. Bush's fault. After Obama's first year in office, employment has gone up steadily since 1/2010. Fact. Obama didn't get the ambassador killed, Muslim right wing nut cases got pissed off at Christian right wing nut cases and rioted. Probably egged on by those who want war and more killing. Those people are being hunted. Now food stamps are a problem! Why? Because millions of people went out of work! Why? Obama didn't put them on the street! Corporate America and the American taxpayers put them on the street. Corporate America is sitting on $Ts and not creating jobs because they see no MARKET. Why? Because of the unemployed. How to get out of it? One way, which is how we got out of the great depression is for Government to spend money so there are people to buy stuff so that corporations will hire people. Knocked down over and over by the GOP!
  
  Chris Pace Thomas, why hasn't your hero O brought all the troops home from Afghanistan? More soldiers have gotten killed on his watch there than during Bush's watch. The left is alway so up in arms about any wars, but they don't stop it either. The killing of the ambassador was a PLANNED ACT OF TERROR ON 9/11, and had nothing to do with some stupid video. That was just an excuse. Wimpy O just falls all over himself apologizing for the video. And in the last couple of days they have backtracked their original comments. What a bunch of dopes. Also what was the ambassador doing in another city away from his post? He knew said he knew he was a target.
  

  2 hours ago · Like

  

  Tom Hail How do you walk away from a mess you created? Bush ignored Afghanistan for year after 2001. You just walk away and let the Taliban walk back in? Let 100's of thousands die at their hands? Women especially? Any you folks are so afraid of Sharia law and you would let it back? How could you live with yourself? I don't know if it was or wasn't planned. You read anything I said? You think Obama is going to tell you or FOX what he knows? So Stevens went to get killed? What are you talking about. It doesn't matter if it was planned, we would have stopped it if it was known in advance but it wasn't. How many embassy attacks were on Bush's watch after 9/11? About a dozen. It happens. They know it can happen they try the best they can to prevent it. Believe me, stuff is happening in that part of the world by our forces you have no clue/concept about. They are not sitting around being targets. Planned or not, it happened. Get over it. So what if the Administration thought it was just a riot at first. SO WHAT??? The people who did it are being hunted. A drone missile is probably assigned. Obama apologized for nothing.
  

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  Chris Pace They admitted they knew something was going on and did nothing to beef up security on 9/11. And he did apologize the next day but said he couldn't do anything about it because of our free speech law. My question is why was the ambassador away from his post in this particular area? Just more secrets being kept from the American public. And Yes, the republicans are just as bad about the secrets and they should all be fired for lies and deceptions. And Shiria las is bad and that is the real war on women that should be talked about not the bull that Sandra Fluke is spewing about not getting her free birth control.

  about an hour ago · Like

  

  Lori Peters-Vaughn Chris I think you really need to stop trying to apologize for Obama and just realize that he is the problem. Stop blaming Bush!! It is old and cumbersome. No longer works. Been four years. Sorry too long take the punches and admit you didn't live up to your promises and stop the blame game. You failed Obama and its time to go. Obama apologized to the Islamic nation for a video that someone put out and how dare he!!! They killed our people!!! Where do you get off defending him!

  about an hour ago via mobile · Like

  
  

  
  

  Tom Hail Oh. And we laugh at FOX. http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-september-19-2012/chaos-on-bulls--t-mountain?xrs=synd_facebook
  

  
  

  
  

  Daily Show: Chaos on Bulls**t Mountain
  

  
  

  Fox News struggles to contain the bulls**t fallout following Mitt Romney's 47% gaffe.

  
  

  
  
  Tom Hail Fox News - Mindless and fact free.