Hitting the newswires is an article that purports to prove one thing but actually proves another.
“Sen. John F. Kerry’s grade average at Yale University was virtually identical to President Bush’s record there, despite repeated portrayals of Kerry as the more intellectual candidate during the 2004 presidential campaign.”
Basically, Kerry’s Yale cume average was 76 while Bush’s was 77.
The thing is, if you read the article, Kerry tanked his Freshman year, with several D’s and one failed course. But during his subsequent three years his grades steadily improved. He was never çûm laude or anything, but the point is…he learned from his mistakes.
Whereas Bush started off with an average of 77 and didn’t deviate from it for four years. Kerry improved exponentially. Bush didn’t.
But, hey, what else to expect from the supposedly liberal-leaning press than an article that essentially tries to say that Kerry is no smarter than Bush.
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I will say one thing for Bush though. Soldier’s families are no longer living in poverty. I believe it took him and the Republican Congress until his second term to correct this travesty.
However, while the Overseas Coupon Program is no longer necessary, we now need a MinimumWageWorker Coupon Program.
And before the onslaught begins about President Bush and his ability to communicate ideas, he had already served a full term which demonstrated what he was thinking already. I don’t believe anyone can say they didn’t understand, at least partially, what President Bush was about when they voted last year.
Here’s some help for the followers of Sisyphus:
http://www.votetoimpeach.org/
http://www.impeachbush.tv/
http://www.impeach-bush-now.org/
http://www.thefourreasons.org/
Best of luck.
which demonstrated what he was thinking already
Demonstrating what Bush is thinking is very easy, since it doesn’t take much time. (which brings this thread back to where it began, though I fully realize this might be a fruitless attempt.)
As much as I dislike Bush and his sithian cohorts, I agree with the analogy with Sisyphus. That said, all hope is not lost.
Bush will be gone Jan 21, 2009. I can just pray that the world isn’t completely destroyed by that time.
Bobb, the situation regarding Guard (and Reserve) soldiers is far more complex than you may realize, and deployments affect soldiers in different ways. Let’s say you are a Master Sergeant who has 12 years in the Reserve. In your civilian job, you work in a local factory. When you activated and deploy, you now in the same status as active duty, and your monthly pay would break down as such:
Base pay (MSgt with 12 years in): $2980.20
Housing allowance (off base/with dependents): $750.60 (deployed less than 140 days)
Food allowance (BAS): $254.46
Combat Pay: $225
This comes to about $4210.26 per month, or about $50,500 per year.
For Guard members and Reservists who are activated and deployed for 140 days or more, receive the active duty housing allowance, which in, say, Illinois, may be from $200 to $1,000 a month more, depending on where the Guard member/Reservist lives.
Thus, a Reservist master sergeant from Chicago would receive about $62,000 per year if deployed. An officer from Chicago, say, a Lieutenant Colonel with 12 years in, would make considerably more — about $95,000 per year. That’s because the base pay for a Lieutenant Colonel (O-6) with 12 years of service is $5,799 per month (or about $69,588 per year).
Only a soldier’s Base Pay in taxable.
Other benefits: The military member becomes eligible for the inexpensive SGLI term life insurance, which costs around $25 a month for $250,000 worth of coverage. Dependents of activated Guard members/Reservists who are deployed also become eligible for Tricare (The DoD’s healthcare program), Delta Dental, legal assistance, and other benefits, along with commissary and exchange privileges.
In addition, some soldiers are eligible for bonuses and special duty pay.
Thus, in my opinion, although there are instances where there are there are financial hardship for deployed members (especially professionals who are civilian airline pilots, doctors and lawyers, or those who are small business owners), the average Guard member or Reservist is not getting screwed financially when deployed — especially if they are from a low income or middle class backgrounds.
Just asking, should we consider the half of the Democratic Senators that voted for the recent bankruptcy law as buddies of the Republicans and Big Business?
Well, for one, did a single Republican vote against this bill? I don’t believe so.
Also, some Democrats went to great lengths to try and get amendments added to the bill to protect those with medical hardships, the military, etc.
All were shot down by the Republicans.
“Bush will be gone Jan 21, 2009. I can just pray that the world isn’t completely destroyed by that time.”
Thank God you’re here. We need someone grounded in reality, who doesn’t exaggerate or overly dramatize things!
While Bush’s campaign can be summaraized as “we know America is strong from our dominance.” Kerry made the mistake of not offering an alternative relief. He stopped at merely
addressing the attacks made against him.
At the time, the SBV attacks seemed irrational and daffy. Bush campaigned in the role of a hero, and Kerry was selected in the democratic primaries because he had an actual record as a hero.
Once he let the sbv attacks pressure him to abandon the hero role — without offering the voters some form of alternative relief — you could say he lost the election there. At least that’s how it looked to me.
My problem isn’t that Bush is stupid, so much as that he seems to WANT to be PERCIEVED as stupid, and, indeed, seems to feel that being percieved as intelligent would be a bad thing. Kerry at least TRIED to look smart.
Just asking, should we consider the half of the Democratic Senators that voted for the recent bankruptcy law as buddies of the Republicans and Big Business?
Craig answers…sort of
Well, for one, did a single Republican vote against this bill? I don’t believe so.
Also, some Democrats went to great lengths to try and get amendments added to the bill to protect those with medical hardships, the military, etc.
All were shot down by the Republicans.
So…. should we consider the half of the Democratic Senators that voted for the recent bankruptcy law as buddies of the Republicans and Big Business?
Me, I’d just say yes.
Thanks, Rick.
I had figured only the worst cases were making the news, so it’s good to know that there are only a few reservists and guards in financial trouble.
So…. should we consider the half of the Democratic Senators that voted for the recent bankruptcy law as buddies of the Republicans and Big Business?
Consider me the optimist: it’s only half of all of them instead of all of them. 😉
But, I’d like to see you address the point of why the Republicans shot down every proposal to try and help those most in need.
“Kerry made the mistake of not offering an alternative relief. He stopped at merely addressing the attacks made against him.”
——
Yes! He made the “mistake” of having no program of his own. Oopsie! AND he was especially effective at addressing those Swift Boat Vets For Truth guys. Good job, President Kerry!
After reading various comments about the SBV ads, I begin to appreciate some of the benefits of living in Texas and not being subjected to the non-stop blitz of ads that some of you poor guys must have been getting.
Craig: My questions about what protections are already in place for members of our armed services, and the responses that others provided, to me suggest that instead of being against such protections, perhaps the bi-partisan group was against unnecessary legal statutes that were duplicative of what’s already in place. To be honest I cannot claim what’s going on inside the head of any member of Congress. I’m pretty disgusted with all of them for letting things get to this point of partisan divisiveness that is strangling our ability to move forward in any direction.
Their grades mean nothing. I graduated in the bottom 3% of my class and yet I have a registered IQ of 160. (Genius, but just barely.)
So, what we’re saying here is that Bush started out stupid and ended up stupid. Kerry, on the other hand, started out really stupid and ended up just plain stupid, thanks to his vast improvement. Either way, the country was going to be in the hands of morons
Todd, you don’t seem to understand that going from really stupid to plain stupid … is an exponential improvement!
TAC: Their grades mean nothing. I graduated in the bottom 3% of my class and yet I have a registered IQ of 160. (Genius, but just barely.)
Luigi Novi: Barely??? I thought the genius level began at around 120. Wouldn’t 160, therefore, be well into the genius range?