It’s nice that you bring up linguistic context and its history and different languages. Just what the hell do they have to do with topic at hand?

So what was your first thought then–infantile?

At any rate, an idiomatic usage is not potentially misleading save, usually, to someone who is not a native speaker.

What is your first language then–Swahili?

Consultations between active, retired and resigned US military and Congress on the issue should be proceeding at an accelerated pace.

Is the Roman Senate preparing to meet at midnight?

May one, once more, also strongly suggest demanding that your Congressman move forward on Kucicnich’s motion to impeach Cheney–immediately.

That also includes those who happen to have Mr. Paul as their Congressman.

The connection is indirect but very potent structurally, and if war with Iran is to be headed off, this may be the strongest measure in the arsenal.

How killing a bunch of civilians in Iraq would in any way stop a handful of plotters in Pakistan from getting a WMD is beyond me. The big question is: how much cowering under your covers, how many hard-won liberties are you willing to give up, how much of Orwell’s boot stepping on a human face are you willing to accept, for a rather far-fetched hypothetical?

As Buchanan has pointed out, Japan got nuked twice but in just a few years was a premier industrial power with more freedom than before the war. We need to take every reasonable step there is to ensure no nuke ever falls into the wrong hands, but to embrace Big Brother to do so is not only unnecessary, but craven in the extreme. By gar, live free or die still works for me.