What is really dangerous here is your interpretation of this concise and clear letter from the undersecretary. It is this sort of "spin" that aggravates already tense situations and exploits the differences between republicans and democrats, Congress and defense etc.. It reminds of the type of spin I got when taking English literature and we were asked to take classical works and interpret them as feminist beginnings. lol. BTW---What is the reason behind your attack on the undersecretary?

Reason? How about an ongoing war and its ensuing international crisis? How about the lives of the soldiers involved? There's nothing partisan about this - the administration has completely shuttered itself from outside input, not to mention reality.

Right -- if the Pentagon gave any real information about troop movements and timetables, etc., the liberal left would shred any information and rip the shreds into sound bites that reflect their own projections of whatever they want to say. The left is so out of contact with reality that they don't realize that they have only a few sound bites that they rearrange into new news. It's always a political spin all the time.

Oh, I love your metaphor, Blue Danube--I remember taking an English Lit class where we had to read the feminist spin on Frankenstein. It was way too stupid and contrived. I must add that I am a woman. Nowadays it is the homosexual spin on everything. They spew on and on about how Hamlet is about a constricting heterosexual construct. They literally have to bend over backwards and stand on their head to explain how Hamlet was in love with his mother (Oedipel complex) so therefor he wanted to kill all women and how that shows that forced heterosexual marriage is so bad for (wo)mankind. Or was that Romeo and Juliette?

Whatever, anyway, they are reeaalllly stretching to find something different to write about. It's the same way with Libs. I guess if they say enough times that Republicans are hypocrites because they think that they have a finger in the compassionate pie because Dems 'have a corner on compassion,' then people will think that the Republicans are really hypocrites. Libs that I am acquainted with are sure that Christians have no compassion because they never do anything like Dems--(voting other people's money for more and more and more welfare programs is compassionate)--when not one of the libs I know has ever helped out in a soup kitchen or homeless facility. I have done both quite often as part of a Christian program for helping the needy.

Does the name Jimmy Carter ring a bell? He's a liberal dem in his 70's, used to be a president of the USA and now he helps build houses for the poor. One of many dems who do help the poor. We just don't blow our own horns about it.

If I recall correctly, Chelsea Clinton also volunteered with Appalachian Service Project or Habitat for Humanity.

Jimmy Carter is doing great things and should be applauded (I am a Republican for the record). Polly Esther was just pointing out that libs don't have a corner on compassion. Elizabeth Dole, for example, ran the Red Cross before becoming a US Senator.

No, what polly was trying to say is that libs or dems don't have any compassion.

when not one of the libs I know has ever helped out in a soup kitchen or homeless facility. I have done both quite often as part of a Christian program for helping the needy.

And patting herself on the back at the same time. Jesus said if you do your charity in public you have gotten your reward by the praise you receive from man so you do not need a reward of Heaven. Jesus also said judge not lest you shall be judged. Take that mote out of your eye, polly.

Just a quick question......and this is no way an attack on Elizabeth Dole, but how much does the Director of the Red Cross make? Last time I checked, it wasnt really a charity position.

Elemenop: I was only saying that the flaming libs that I know are constantly ranting abaout how Christians aren't compassionate and don't care about others. What I was saying was that these particular libs have never done anything but 'care' about others, never really doing or donating anything. They are the the ones who are judging others negatively, I am only responding to their comments. And, by saying that I have helped others is not exactly publicly patting myself on the back, because no one even knows my name.

Why do you invoke "the Left" when the discussion is about Clinton? I think you're making a mistake which is common nowadays. If you perceive that someone is to the left of you, you think that means they are of "the Left" You know what it reminds me of when Republicans are constantly blaming "the Left" for this or that? It reminds me of incompetent and/or corrupt arab leaders always blaming the US for their troubles so they won't have to be accountable.

RIght, but its just as easy for me to say....All the Christian conservatives I know are heartless and fake. They proclaim the glories of christ, but seek only to fill their own pockets, not live according to his teachings.....

See how easy.....and pointless rhetoric like this is?

What you failed to mention about Ms. Dole, is that she was handsomely compensated by the American Red Cross. So your argument doesn't hold water. Hmm "Alturistic Republican" isn't that kind of an oxymoron like "Military intelligence."

Exactly, isnt the director of the red cross paid in a simmilar manner to the chief executive of a multi national?

Do a little research on the Red Cross. They have a long record of corruption and malfeasance. I know that they do some good during emergencies, but it is hard to argue that the good outweighs the bad. Just look at their hijinks during Katrina and 9/11 for recent examples.