besides that, it was trumans's comments, not mrs. daniel nor mr. hume's review, that sunk her career. so, i'd say that was a huge backfire.

looking to our leaders to be violent frat boys is bad enough, to perpetuate that men are violent is bad enough (which insinuates women are not), but to suppose that the best way to handle a situation is the man's way, and is the violent way... that's just too much.

listen to yourselves! no wonder we have a gun-culture. no wonder we have domestic violence. no wonder people are getting shot outside of nightclubs.

i still rather he reacted in a way that demonstrated how he felt without the threats of violence. i do not wish to honor nor promote violence, nor threats of violence.

and while i don't necessary think to odd fist fight is really that bad (if both parties consent), that's not really the shape of violence we see these days.

is that what you want in the american leader?

1) truman was wrong. his daughter was a bad singer.

and

2) his threat had the opposite effect.

know anyone else who was wrong and made threats of violence? yeah, over half the country ate it up, just like you are doing right now. i guess i shouldn't be surprised.

Margaret Truman was not a particularly good singer, but she was the President's daughter. Chelsea was endlessly tormented by the press during their WH years because she didn't meet certain people's standards of attractiveness. Ditto - Amy.

Nor am I a father, but I had a father. Father's get upset when their kids are publicly humiliated - deservedly or not. Something called human nature. Do you think Hume might have disliked HST and took it out on Margaret? Hmmmm...now there's a thought.

Harry might well have written Hume: "Dear Sir: I do not appreciate your unkindly review of my daughter's performance, and Bess and I (though she admonished me not to) shall think ill of you for the next few days. Thank you, good sir, and we shall give some consideration to finding Margaret a job in a factory or something."

W. made a threat - Saddam didn't listen - violence ensued. So I guess you're right - threats are bad, but how nice for all of us if Saddam had listened.

And yes, if Kerry and Gore had had a pair, we might now be better off than we are. I suspect that under those pantsuits, there is a pair, and really isn't that's what's making the straight white man queasy? Not to forget the occasional woman who thinks it's just fine for one bitch to call bitch on another. Like W's momma...but she was so grandmotherly coy when she said: - "You know, Witch with a B" -

what you advocate is what bushie did. and, as happens often, threats of violence lead to... wait for it.... wait for it.. actual violence.

i don't want our leader to be chosen based on who has the biggest balls. that might be the way it's done. but that is the problem.

and it's not going to change quickly when the democrats are the ones impressed by all this ball brandishing. and your mildly sexist suggestion aside, no wonder clinton's having such a tough time.

I'm pro-Clinton - so what was mildly sexist? suggesting she had a pair?

There's a vast difference between rightly responding to withering criticism from a badgering newspaper columnist and going to war.

That's why Truman was so admirable - what you saw was what you got: he didn't threaten, he acted. Do you think he polled every TomDick'n'Harry before he issued the Executive Order racially integrating the U.S. military.

Oh, if only for a second Bill Clinton had had Harry's balls - now, wait that don't look right - and put the don't-ask-don't-tell pig out of its misery.

and while i cannot prove what didn't happen any more than you can, i can think of so many ways that would have hurt his particular campaign that it's laughable.

not to mention the fact that you just shouldn't go around hitting people even if they are liars.

What if Kerry had just said: "I call bullshit on your untrue, false, slanderous, shabby, inconsiderate, unconscionably misinformed accusations regarding my participation in the Viet Nam conflict."

Oooh - scary! Yeah - that would have worked. The Swiftboat liars deserved more than a public face-slapping; they should have been placed in the town square stocks and pelted with right wing garbage.