VicMan

Plumber, by this you mean rural Democrats, correct? I would imagine that urban Democrats would vote Obama.

Vines: Yeah - the Clintons sent Chelsea to private school. The Clintons could have sent Chelsea to the DC public school serving Georgetown or to Maryland. There's an article written by a guy who wanted the Clintons to send Chelsea to public school: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m131...v24/ai_13251712 - When she was in Arkansas (incl. when Clinton was governor) Chelsea went to public school. If Obama goes Maryland, all Obama needs to do, Vines, is that he could ask the Maryland school district to accept a limited number of transfers from Washington DC. The transfers would have to maintain good grades and not get into trouble. As Obama is a former university professor, I am sure that he will have no problem ensuring his kids do well in school.

Vines, he could send his kids to public school... in DC, Maryland, or Virginia. The last presidential child to attend public school was Amy Carter, who went to a middle school in DC.

Cottonmather, I understand your point but I don't think the paragraph really attacks Obama's argument. I think a start would be to say "Mr. Obama, we already have an equality of chance because of a lack of an established political elite, X, Y, and Z" - This would contradict Obama's statement - it may help to look around for more context to see who he is speaking to and what he uses to support his argument. Attack these support columns and address them. You said: "attacking a successful minority in pursuit of electoral support from the less successful majority. At some point the well runs dry and it's disturbing to think that so many people in this country think that's OK." - Are you referring to the "When they came for the A, I said nothing because of X. When they came for the B, I said nothing because of Y. When they came for me, nobody spoke up for us." ? Which voting sites do not require ID? I think ALL ought to require ID. Voting is sacred and therefore we must ensure that people do not use ID to exclude people, but we should also ensure that as few people as possible try to cheat the system.

I must also add that there are different schools of Marxism that mean different things. I highly doubt that there is any significant political support for a USSR-like economy and lack of private ownership in the United States. We like our private property in the US.

Let's see this editorial: http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.a...305420655186700 Investor's Business Daily seems to be an advocate of capitalism with few governmental restrictions. I can see why the newspaper is against many of Obama's proposals as the newspaper feels they go against free trade. Please keep in mind that this is an editorial, and I found some parts of it that I feel weren't explained enough. The editorial, "Michelle's Boot Camps For Radicals," talks about the group using "threats, pressure, tension and confrontation

I'll take a look at the Obama quotes in a sec. Let's keep in mind what Barbara Mikkelsen said in a Snopes article about some quotes attributed to Hillary Clinton that were described as "Marxist" in chain e-mails: http://www.snopes.com/politics/clintons/marxist.asp * "Most collections of political quotes are difficult to rate as strictly "true" or "false" although they generally include statements that were indeed uttered by the persons to whom they're attributed, they also create misleading impressions about the nature of those statements by eliding portions of them and stripping them of all explanatory context."

Disastro, you talk about a "Marxist takeover" - I asked Toggle what his definition of Marxism is, why it would be bad for the United States, and how Obama's policies match with it. I think going into detail about specifics rather than wrangling over labels like "Marxism" will improve this debate.

Disastro, TJ, perhaps you could help Toggle in his homework assignment.

I wonder how long Texas will remain firmly GOP. Keep in mind that: * Cities are expanding, and so more Democrat-leaning people settle in inner cities in Texas * South Texas is expanding, and many in South Texas lean towards Democrats * Many rural Republican communities are fading away, so the suburbs of large cities become the major powerhouses of the GOP

Hi Toggle! You have a HAIFomework assignment. Your assignment is: * Give HAIF a definition of Marxism * Explain why this system would be fundamentally flawed in the United States * How Barack Obama's policies and attitudes correspond with your definition of Marxism

They might move the J. Will Jones extended day program to Blackshear and/or consolidate it with a different extended day program.

HISD said it would do renovations at Blackshear as part of a bond (I forget which one) - Anyway maybe when, after the consolidation, Blackshear's population continues to decline, HISD could merge it into Ryan MS and turn it into a K-8.

J. Will Jones Elementary School, the last zoned Houston ISD school located in Midtown, will close. Jones will consolidate into Blackshear Elementary School in the Third Ward. http://www.houstonisd.org/HISDConnectDS/v/...nextfmt=default So far HISD has not drawn the new boundary maps. Where should the chunk of Midtown zoned to J. Will Jones be zoned to? (Obviously the chunk of Midtown east of U.S. 59/288 will be zoned to Blackshear) - Gregory Lincoln, Blackshear, or MacGregor? I don't think this will affect Midtown much at all because Midtown is not a family area.

http://www.chron.com/disp/dispcomp2.mpl?cid=13466769 23 people are still missing from the Port Bolivar area.

http://www.houstonisd.org/HISDConnectDS/v/...nextfmt=default J. Will Jones will consolidate into Blackshear, and Kennedy will consolidate into Allen with a new campus on Allen's site.

Are there sections of Neartown/Montrose more suited for families than other sections? Are the areas zoned to Lanier Middle School (most areas west of Montrose Boulevard) more family-friendly than the areas zoned to Gregory-Lincoln Middle School (all areas east of Montrose Boulevard and some areas west of Montrose Boulevard)?

Macbro: While Simpson knew that he would face more scrutiny, shouldn't he have taken the chance to "reform" his life? I don't get it. Yeah, it does sound inconsequential - He's in prison, and nobody cares about him anymore. Let's focus on what can hurt us now.

Good point, editor. We need to change our political culture. You know that kind-of-wealthy couple who likes watching The Shining or Ferris Bueller's Day Off at the River Oaks? Get them to ask the local city council member (in a tone between "please do so" and "you won't dare not do so") to propose a bill (of course, you should also send your own letter to your representative).

If we prod city council into passing a preservation bill with "teeth," that won't happen. There has been an opportunity for city council to pass a bill like this protecting both the River Oaks and the Alabama, and there likely still is one. The Save River Oaks Theatre groups really need to put the pressure on the politicians.

They found a dead man on Goat Island. Now the confirmed Texas death toll is 37. The total U.S. death toll is 72. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6045309.html "Goat Island victim raises Ike Texas death toll to 37" - October 7, 2008

I always wondered - wouldn't it be neat if the Alamo Drafthouse got the Alabama Theater? It seems like central Houston would be very accommodating for one.

http://cms7.houstonisd.org/PolicyAdministr...0808OA_Post.pdf Due to hurricane delays it appears HISD will vote regarding this on October 8. I hope the schools close.

As the wise and great Nelson Muntz said, "HA HAA!"