>You are twisting my words. I never said the President has no idea who the recipient is. My point, which I thought was clear, was that the President approves Medal of Honor recipients but does not choose them. OK? approve != choose
>
>This discussion has gone off in an unfortunate direction. I did not intend to impugn the new Medal of Honor recipient in any way. What I said way back when was it's the military brass I don't trust.
>
>I know I exasperate you sometimes but hope you are not really done speaking to me.
MIke, focus. Your original contention was that you didn't trust the military brass because of the *timing* of the awarding of the medal. The point is that the *timing* of the awarding is *entirely* in the hands of the White House, since once moved through the process to the President's desk it can sit there as long as he likes until acted upon one way or another.
But as soon as that was pointed out to you and might imply that The Chosen One would (gasp) exploit such a thing for political gain you conveniently forgot about your original skepticism.
This is why people sometimes feel arguing these things with you frustrating. Emotionally based argument is quite appropriate in discussing music (even when being wrong about Cobain and Nirvana <g>) but when used to try to score political points it can be dissected pretty quickly.
Charles Hankey
Though a good deal is too strange to be believed, nothing is too strange to have happened.
- Thomas Hardy
Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm-- but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.
-- T. S. Eliot
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed sheep contesting the vote.
- Ben Franklin
Pardon him, Theodotus. He is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.
