Religious Resignation

[Jester]

That's one theory. An optimistic white washing theory, but it's possible he was a naive dupe.

I await further evidence, but I think naive dupe has it about right.

Clear and candid rather than fleeing and covering up is a refreshing change, but all the same it stinks.

Agreed. But do you have a candidate who doesn't? All politics stinks to high heaven, especially if you want to get all the way to the top.

Your honor, I rest my case. After that, Alsammarae was sprung from jail, flown to Chicago, and has had the Interpol warrant for his arrest vacated. Who is helping Mr. Alsammarae?

You rest your case on a vague insinuation? Or on the "damning" evidence that Obama's office inquired about Alsammarae's condition, recieved a reply, and conveyed it to the family?

By all accounts, including his own, Alsammarae broke out of Iraqi jail, and it seems it was with the help of private security forces from DynCorp. Obviously, he has contacts, he was a minister in Iraq for two years, not exactly a low-profile job. Perhaps Rezko was his man in the US, it certainly fits, especially with his having posted Rezko's bail after the high-profile arrest. The two were clearly up to their ears in Iraq reconstruction contract shenanigans. It also appears the US embassy was looking out for him:

http://www.enidnews.com/localnews/local_...02502.html

Also interesting that Alsammarae appears to have a similar pattern to Rezko of donating to everyone to hedge his bets. So long as we're asking hypothetical questions, perhaps he has more friends than just an old Chicago political insider?

http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail...rae&first=Aiham

However, all we know Obama's office did was ask the embassy how he was doing. Apparently, he got the reply that he was doing fine, and that's the end of the trail. Everything else on Obama is speculation. Needless to say, I'm waiting on something better than your gut feeling before I start believing he had anything to do with springing him from jail, or getting Interpol to drop a warrant.

Or, maybe Obama dialed up the US Embassy, who dialed up DynCorp, dropped some names and some money, and had a high-profile Iraqi former minister broken out of prison and flown to the States in exchange for past or future political favours. This is an exciting theory, but it does not yet have much evidence behind it.

I'm not drawing any lines yet, but it's interesting to plot the patterns to see trends.

... and what trends you see depend heavily on what points you plot.

There is a difference between calling you a "drunken hog" and saying you are gobbling up the BS being fed to you like a "drunken hog". It's called a "simile" and the only disparagement to you would be that I think you have your BS blinders on again.

Ah. Perhaps you find your colourful, folksy simile to be entirely appropriate. I think you're being insulting. But, in any case, Mav has asked us to tone it down.

Or, rather "systematic doubt and continual testing". It is not, "relying on only the facts" as you characterize it.

There are quotation marks around "relying on only the facts". I don't recall saying that, but who knows. Maybe I did somewhere. The point I emphasized was evidence. We should stick close to what can be demonstrated, be critical of how we know what we know, and be careful not to be led too far into hypothesizing about what might conceivably be true. You never know where your next few data points might land, and if you get wrapped up in looking at "patterns", you tend to interpret new information to confirm old theories. I am as guilty of this as anyone, but it's something to fight against.

Well, it's vague what is an impeachable offense, and only Congress can decide that. I would hold that any one who demeans the Office of President with such a scandal may be impeached. It depends on the circumstances.

And I would hold that this is pointless prudery and political point-scoring, if what "demeans" the Office of the President is a private matter and has no relationship to the execution of the President's duties. However, this is obviously a topic for a different thread, perhaps one circa 1998, so I'll leave it be from here on out.

-Jester