His job starts when diplomacy ends.

This Ain't Hell has a good point concerning Secretary of Defense Robert Gates which is (less politely put than Jonn) shut the hell up.

For some reason there are people that worry about their legacy. Maybe it is because they know they haven't done the job they should have. Like Bill Clinton and his apparent co-president Hillary. They always seem defensive. Like Robert Gates.

Maybe They Should Work On Murder First

Lawmakers To Consider Spanking Ban
Nurse Wants State To Outlaw Corporal Punishment

BOSTON -- Lawmakers on Beacon Hill are set to consider a
proposed ban on spanking children in the commonwealth.

NewsCenter 5's Shiba Russell reported that the issue is set for debate
at a Statehouse hearing Wednesday morning.

The Boston Herald reported that State Rep. Jay Kaufman filed the spanking
ban petition at the request of an Arlington, Mass., nurse who wants
Massachusetts to become the first state in the country to stop corporal
punishment.

Spare the rod, spoil the child? I believe that to be true.

It is supposed to have import that the request to save children from out-of-control- parents comes from a nurse. Well, my mother was a nurse. God blessed my mother with many qualities, but her ability to see me doing something wrong half a county away was almost as strong as the strength and speed in her right hand. I never heard my mother utter that she thought corporal punishment was bad. I did hear her mention a time or two that the parent's of some of the children she treated should never have been parents.

Instead of punishing society by banning parental control and punishment, I humbly suggest instead that parents who physically harm their children be punished. Severely.

Just think, for a minute, the world of good it might have done Teddy Kennedy. Maybe the legislators in Massachusetts should ask Mary Jo Kopechne (July 26, 1940 – July 18, 1969) before beginning debate.