Clete Purcel

Thank you everyone for the input. You've given me some good things to think about and consider. We'll have a discussion and get his money invested and working for him as soon as possible.

I think it is very cowardly how Chuck Todd, Leon Panetta and Robert Gates, to name a few, all come out with critical books AFTER it is too late to do anything about it. Why didn't they confront the President? Why didn't they (Panetta & Gates) resign and report on the dysfunction that most everyone knows exists? That would have been the honorable thing to do.

I'm cynical, but it just appears that when Progressive policies don't work and are proven to not work, they jettison the individual - Obama in this case, so that he takes the fall and not the Progressive Agenda. That way, they can get someone else to advance their flag.

I just did my part.

You know, this is a great question. Republicans are portrayed as being "the Party of NO." Why don't they get together and prioritize a list of action items? Rather than criticize things, offer solutions and a roadmap to get America back on track.

I know it wasn't perfect, but I liked the Contract with America back in 1994 when Republicans became the majority Party in the House.

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Proponents say the Contract was revolutionary in its commitment to offering specific legislation for a vote, describing in detail the precise plan of the Congressional Representatives, and broadly nationalizing the Congressional election. Furthermore, its provisions represented the view of many conservative Republicans on the issues of shrinking the size of government, promoting lower taxes and greater entrepreneurial activity, and both tort reform and welfare reform. Critics of the Contract describe it as a political ploy and election tool designed to have broad appeal while masking the Republicans' real agenda and failing to provide real legislation or governance.

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The fate of the proposals in the Contract were mixed with some becoming law while some failed to pass the House or the Senate or were vetoed by President Clinton.

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Not perfect, but I like a plan and it would be a good start.

I remember my first LSU game in Tiger Stadium, walking through the portal and looking down at the field all lit up and seeing how immense the stadium was and the crowd was rocking. I was in awe and just stood there for a while, soaking it all in. I've been hooked ever since.

On that same night we were heading home very late after the game was over (Tigers won!) on Highway 190 and my uncle couldn't stay awake. He kept running off the road and I thought he was going to kill us. We pulled into the parking lot of a Chevrolet dealer in Eunice to nap for a bit and were awakened by a police officer shining a light in our faces, knocking on the window and telling us to move along.

I'll be doing my part to unelect her.

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Did you listen to Choudray on Hannity the other night? He lays out the 'sins' of the US pretty well; all manner of murderous enterprise against Islam, backing tyrants who kept Islam down.

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I didn't get a chance to listen to him.

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Because the 'radicals' would wave both The Book...AND...the ACTIONS of their Founding Prophet in their faces. And remind them that they are forbidden - by the Quran - to even criticize the Religion.

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But if Islam doesn't really advocate violence against the infidel, the peaceful muslims could respond that they aren't criticizing the religion - they are correcting those who have misinterpreted it.

If Muslims are truly forbidden from questioning anyone's actions within their faith, well, things will get much worse.

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My heart agrees with you. The problem is: An absense of some sort of effective nation-state is how these savages become so powerful in the first place. There is nobody to oppose them. That's why we nation build in the first place (or at least try).

The UN is a joke. The U.S. used to be the one who would stand up to these frickers, but we don't have the will or the clout or the patience at this point. W're worn out having Spent 10 years in Iraq and Afghanistan (and I'm not tyring to blame anyone) . It's just a complete clusterfrick.

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I don't pretend to understand what drives these people to act like bloodthirsty, uncivilized savages, but they operate under the banner of Islam. I fully understand that the majority of Muslims don't act this way and its just the radicals that do.

The problem is that the sheer number of radicals is large and growing and we're putting our heads in the sand if we think we can ignore it. This is overly idealistic, I know, but couldn't we forge alliances with Muslim countries and since they don't have an effective "nation-state" encourage the peaceful Muslim majority handle this problem? Why don't we hear them trying to denounce ISIS? I'm pretty sure that if a radical wing of Christians in America started indiscriminately slaughtering people, there would be a HUGE response by Christians condemning them and actively getting involved in stopping them. Why doesn't that occur within the Muslim faith?

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"The moral crisis of our age has nothing to do with gay marriage or abortion; it’s insider trading, obscene CEO pay, wage theft from ordinary workers, Wall Street’s continued gambling addiction, corporate payoffs to friendly politicians, and the billionaire takeover of our democracy,"

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This is what I was agreeing with. His other stuff, not so much. He's using 'divide and conquer' tactics to pit rich against the poor, white against black and brown, fueling anger and resentment. I don't agree with that at all.

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I didn't lose jack of my 'savings'.

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I'm not talking about those flipping houses. There are some people who were in the stock market that got caught up in emotion and fear and sold stocks as they were falling. Yes, that is on them, but I feel some compassion for them. They weren't being greedy. They didn't cause the crash. But they paid for it dearly.

I agree with you. There is a lot of merit to his argument. I agree with a lot that he says. I guess this is my cynicism coming out, but people of his political stripe always have the answer - wealth redistribution.

Government AND business have one primary thing in common - people run them. Just as in business, politicians are faulty people looking out for themselves with serious character issues, greed and selfishness, but yet we elect them and trust them to solve our problems time and time again and things only get worse. Stirring up class envy is ugly, and I think, why "Thou Shalt not Covet" is one of the 10 commandments. I would just take a lecture on greed a lot better by someone who donates a great portion of his income to charity, lives a modest life and isn't contributing to the very system he decries.

Take for instance the financial collapse of 2008 where many Americans who sacrificed and saved saw their savings vaporize. We were told by our elected officials that it was the fatcat bankers and Wall Street types who created this crash and that they would be held responsible. How many of them have been jailed? The last I checked, the answer is NONE of them. But former Goldman Sachs employees and the other fat cat Wall Street types move from banking into appointed positions within our government where fraud, insider trading and tax cheating abounds. Doesn't that seem a little suspicious? It always seems the very people denouncing our (imperfect) system are profiting off of it while the middle class gets the shaft.