checkmate

What do you mean--it has the Eden Corn Festival in late August.

30 minutes from Amherst--but I think you have the wrong town. None of my trips from VA would ever take me through East Aurora. But it is only 10 minutes from the stadium.

Check out East Aurora just outside of Orchard Park.

Agreed. If you did not vote and were eligible and able, you can't complain.

I think you read too much in the raw numbers, as the population has grown significantly in the last twenty years. The big thing for Bush is he won the popular vote by a majority. Nonetheless, he probably does not significantly increase the number of red states, as it looks like he only has a net gain of one state, assuming Iowa remains in his pocket.

I had the same thought about the Republican Party. The religious right brought home this election for Bush. In 2008, when there will be primaries galore, I hope the division between the liberal Republicans like Guiliani becomes paramount. I am a tried and true democrat, but certainly would consider voting for a person like Guiliani or McCain. I just don't ever see a Republican like that getting out of the primary. While I wish Kerry won, I am glad that someone got a majority of the popular vote.

I will try to go to the Super Bowl, but I was in college for each of the Super Bowl years, so going back to Buffalo to watch it would not be a bad option. I just hope it is soon.

I voted. Longer line than usual and no one seemed to have a problem with it.

I think Putin is wrong. I think that in general terrorists want Bush in power because he is someone they can rally against. While I don't support Bush, I don't oppose him because he is hated by terrorists and would never let a terrorist's position on our elected leaders dictate my vote.

Can someone help me out to understand Bush's opposition? He says that Kerry's plan will take choice away from patients and doctors. My biggest problem with healthcare is that HMO's take choice away from patients and doctors. For me to have choice, I have to pay and not use my insurance. My HMO dictates what medications I can use based on its formulary and requires prior approval for most procedures. It seems like Bush is for choice, so long as the HMOs have the choice. Can someone tell me intelligently how I am wrong?

Boston wins tonight, but Yankees finish them off early in Game 7.

Sorry, I just can't root for the fish. I could not stomach it.

Good point about candidates never discussing negatives about themselves. As for the question, maybe it could have been worded differently to Bush. The point I think was the viewpoint that he cannot or will not recognize his own mistakes. He is human and has fallibilities. Recognizing and understanding how to correct one's own mistakes is a sign of a good leader. I really think Bush could have knocked that ball out of the park if he started by stating that it is important for a leader to learn from his own mistakes and take action to correct it. Then, he could have at least mentioned one or two.

That would have worked too. Again, I was disappointed in both responses and that's why I think it was a wash.

The question was a good one. As a Kerry supporter, I think Kerry should have taken the high road and told the audience three mistakes he has made in his rebuttal. It was a great opening that Kerry could have exploited by showing some of his own fallabilities in the same light that Bush refused to admit mistakes. That's why Bush's response was not so bad. Kerry did not need to attack in the rebuttal.

Paco--I hope you are right. If he said anything close to that, he should resign. His base is the religious right anyways.

That is an idiotic statement. A true Liberal fights for everyone's right to believe and express their own opinions. And whoever earlier called Liberals facist needs to learn their political spectrum: Conservative is closer to facist while Liberal is closer to Socialist. Just study some political theory.

I can't say much about the housing market anywhere other than Columbia SC and St. Simons GA where I own property. In Columbia, 100% financing is why the entry-level market for new homes continues. That is a bit scary, as many may default on loans and banks stand to lose money. On St. Simons, property values accelerate exponentially, but it is a wealthy beach community to start and baby boomers are starting to retire to the beach. I think that market will begin to slow down, but don't think that can be considered any indication of how robust the economy is because we are talking about mainly retirement residents.

As a trial lawyer, I agree that Mississippi has gotten out of control. But I can say that the federal judges are permitting cases to be removed, even if inappropriately, to combat this system. Also, the effect of State Farm v. Campbell and the due process limitations on punitive damages to 9 time actuals will see a decrease in consumer cases in Mississippi.

You see, you can't do this case as a class action. The rules won't allow it. You have to file individual lawsuits if you had a heart attack. In order to win, you have to prove Vioxx was unreasonably dangerous, you weren't warned by the product insert or your doctor, and you had a heart attack. You simply can't prove this on a class wide basis.

I am also a bleeding heart liberal. I saw the movie in Columbia, South Carolina. The theater was full, even here in the Republican bible belt. There was cheering and crying. The movie evokes strong emotions. Some of the viewpoints presented are sensationalized, but some of the media clips don't lie. Can anyone tell me why George Bush, when speaking at a costly fundraising black tie dinner said to those in attendance, "some call you the haves, I call you my base"? That is real and still resonates with me. Also the interview with the soldier making 24k protecting the oil workers making 120k was eye opening. I thought trying to link Bush to the bin Laden family in Saudi Arabia was way overdone and Moore stepped over the line.

I say a draw. I also called the first debate a draw (listened on NPR, did not watch). This campaign is a classic Democrat/Republican campaign. Each candidate is giving the classic stances of their party. Everyone knows the key is the independent voter. I think independents have been turned upside down in this race. Your typical Libertarian votes Republican because of economic issues but has to be appalled by Iraq and may go with Kerry. Your independent who usually gets turned off by the Republican stance on abortion, religion in schools, and other social issues may ignore Bush's policies in that regard for the sake of consistency in the war against global terrorism.

Travis is terrible at picking up the blitz, but in the second quarter on Sunday when both Travis and Willis were in the backfield, I watched Travis pick up one blitzing linebacker and Willis do his impression of a matador. Nonetheless, Willis needs to play to learn to pick up the blitz, Travis is in his 4th year.

Hey, I am a big fan of RICO laws. Great tool for taking on HMOs. Read Klay v. Humana in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals written by one of the most conservative judges in the country, Chief Judge Tjoflat.

Ok, entrenched positions on both sides of the debate: under what circumstances, absent an imminent present danger to our country, does our country have the legal right (explain your interpretation of legal right) to change the government of another country? We all can admit that Iraq was not imminent to attack us conventionally, but may have been able to support terrorists someday (I don't buy this, but the Bush Administration hangs its hat on it and my skepticism aside, I have to believe the Administration at least believes that position).