Don't forget that ultimate waste of electrons, MSNBC, which several years ago did the exact same thing to Alan Keyes, replacing him with the blow-dried airhead Phil Donahue. One can imagine the horror in the MSNBC inner sanctum when Keyes' stellar ratings came out. "What? A black conservative? A popular black conservative?? AAAGGHH!! Dump him now!!"

I find it telling that FBN can't think of a viable replacement, so they just do reruns.

Ron Paul should immediately announce that if he becomes president, Judge Napolitano will be his attorney general.

Agreed regarding James' post above, but he reveals an obvious truth. Just as American actions in the Mideast create more anti-American outrage (thereby creating more terrorists), Israel's actions create opinions and rhetoric like James'. One could, in fact, argue that the Israeli government is a major source of modern anti-Semitism.

Quite true, but too many Europeans (and all their politicians) are addicted to the massive welfare states that Uncle Sam has subsidized since NATO was formed in 1949. That, as I've written here previously, is another reason NATO plods along 20 years after its supposed mission -- deterring or repelling an attack by the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact puppets -- exited stage left.

The fact that those nanny states are now collapsing anyway -- as they inevitably would have -- hasn't made any difference to those pols, any more than the loss of a junkie's heroin connection changes his mind about the need for his next fix. In fact, the same could be said about our own nanny state and pols.

Even if they didn't, and even if I drank coffee (can't stand the stuff), I certainly wouldn't pay $5+ for something I could make at home for pennies.

Also, places with Internet cafes are starting to clamp down on excessive online use. Many of them now limit how long customers can stay connected. Besides, a public wi-fi portal is extremely insecure, and is therefore the last place anyone would engage in sensitive communications.

And thanks for using Intense Debate as a comment portal. It's my favorite.

And I second MvGuy. PP.com and Antiwar.com should be allies, not antagonists.

And who put those politicians in office? Answer: the citizens. The fact is, the Europeans could never have afforded their opulent womb-to-tomb welfare states, month-long summer vacations, etc. if they'd had to pay for their own defense rather than sticking Uncle Sam with the lion's share of the bill. That, along with maintaining the US military-industrial complex and avoiding early retirement for superfluous generals, is why NATO wasn't disbanded 20 years ago when the USSR and Warsaw Pact dissolved.

Of course, those bloated welfare states are now crumbling anyway, so all NATO has done since the end of the Cold War is postpone the inevitable. As Margaret Thatcher so brilliantly noted, socialism collapses when it runs out of other people's money.

No, the US government is too much afraid of that. Recall the leaked document from some bureaucracy in Missouri labeling returning war vets as potential "domestic terrorists" (along with Ron Paul supporters, people who have the temerity to pay for things with cash, and a whole raft of others).

Make that "fruits, nuts and flakes," thereby making the People's Republic of Californicate the "Granola State."

Like naming the war ministry the "Ministry of Peace" in 1984. Or the secret police HQ the "Ministry of Love."

Of course, we have the same doctrine here with the "Defense Dept.", whose mission isn't defending the country but launching wars of aggression (both overt and covert) around the world. Before 1947 it was (honestly) named the War Dept.

Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning. The US govt. (along with many others) now uses it as a template.