I'm dismayed to see that a couple of people have taken JimLad's latest bait (of perplexing, illogical blind alleys) that he's dangling in front of the Forum.

Having perused JimLad's posts for some time, I have come to think that not only would he make a very good "USAn", but that he would fit right in with the Bush Administration. He insults his allies while claiming that he's their friend and neighbor, he makes sweeping generalizations that are patently false, he defends those generalizations by citing "proof" that doesn't exist, he seems totally oblivious to his ignorance and arrogance, and he calls people "these folks"!

Don Firth apparently knows Jim as "one helluva fine musician and singer and an intelligent guy" so I'm sure that's true, but what of it? Okay, so he's talented and smart; we all know talented, smart people who annoy the bejesus out of us off-Mudcat. For that matter, Dubya is a helluva fine rancher and bird-shooter (and, I suspect, more intelligent that he lets on -- his parents are no dummies). Don has the impression that Jim has his heart "in the right place". Dubya has his convictions that he's doing the right things, too. Seems to me that both Jim and Dubya are immovably stubborn people. The difference is, the rest of us have the option of ignoring the bizarre things that Jim says.

Personally, I prefer to save my energy for refusing to ignore the bizarre things Dubya says and does, rather than expend it boxing with JimLad's shadows. Sorry, Jim, no harm intended but, as you say, this is my "view from the outside" (outside Canade, that is).

But with regard to the subject of this thread... CarolC, your links are much appreciated, as is your persistent activism. As Kat says, Olbermann's words bear repeating (till they ring from the Alaska mountains and over the "rolling hillsides" of Oregon to the Appalachian Trail). I hope you count me among the friends you have around here!