@youdawgyou: The assertion you are making here is that if Bush was wrong, and so is Obama then one excuses the other. In other words, you believe TWO WRONGS MAKE A RIGHT.

It's the blatant hypocrisy that is the issue. This Benghazi investigation is all about politics and not a genuine concern for our embassy security and the lives of Americans. Republicans cut funding for embassy security and after the attack wonder what was wrong with embassy security.

Republicans were NEVER concerned about responsibility or accountability when an embassy or consulate was attacked and Americans killed during republican administrations, only under democrats and especially under Obama. Pure politics.

@Man_Of_The_Mountain: I've been in the area you're talking about and have seen nor heard the things you have described. They are actually well behaved.

From your comments, you seem to have a prejudice that overpowers your common sense and sensibilities.

@friendlyfire: I can see you didn't pay attention to any Democratic campaign ads during the last election. Their portrayal of Romney was pathetic.

My comment: When one candidate disparages certain groups of people, it's no wonder people in those groups would vote against him.

So Romney is a group of people now? Candidates always find something about their opponents that they'd think was disparaging.

@snarkydude: blacks voted for Obama, because he is black, and because they thought (incorrectly) that he would improve their standard of living at the expense of someone else. The fact that blacks are worse off under Obama has escaped them.

Wow, a mind reader. You know what blacks are thinking, huh?

Obama promised the rich he would tax them to death. That's one of the few promises he has kept.

Well, now how many have died since his re-election?

The "middle class" has lost about $4000 per year in income since 2009. So much for Obama's "help". The Democrats have a vested interest in keeping poor people poor. If they see they can fulfill their potential and make it on their own, they won't keep voting Democrat.

From 2000 to 2008, the middle class and the poor saw none of that trickle down wealth Bush and republicans promised, but the rich got richer.

Republicans have said no to almost everything Obama proposed to stimulate growth and jobs. So many the fault doesn't just lie with Obama;. Maybe the republicans are more culpable?

You probably could start another career at Hooters. Think they are hiring males now. We call them "Hoots" because they have no hooters of distinction.

@Save our Republic: That obviously because President Bush wasn't incompetent in his handling of it.

Ah, 11 attacks but he wasn't incompetent? Ah, couldn't get Osama bin Ladin so he quit looking for him but he wasn't inept and a quitter? And let's us not forget the most egregious attack that kill 3,000 in NY. and no accountability.

NO EFFORT WAS MADE TO SAVE THESE MEN

A blatant lie. The timeline of the assault doesn't jibe with your assertions. And why don't you also tell us why republicans in Congress refused the requested $300 million for embassy security?

@Digdug: Me too. Never leave home without it. Dang, I remember being in the cub scouts and having a cub scout knife. We all had them and even brought them to school with zero problems

Yep. Carried a pocket knife from third grade on. Do you remember the knife game that you and a friend would play? We'd face each other and throw the knife between our feet? Each toss and we'd have to move our feet closer together where our knives stuck and then we'd do it until one of us chickened out? I never lost, but I still have some scars on my leg. Wasn't too bright then, I'm a lot smarter now.

I'm a "Swiss" pocket knife owner and don't have a license to carry. Every time I visit places with metal detectors I have to go place my knife in my car before entering the building. What a pain. I'm not ever tempted to cut some one but am treated as if I was. But, I understand that there are some places that do not welcome both me and my knife.

@youdawgyou: Those attacks were very spontaneous with suicide bombers, car bombers, grenade throwers, etc., all steming from for the war being waged on terror that at that time was at its height.

So that's your excuse? Do you know something we don't? You conducted an investigation in all 11 attacks, huh?

After 9/11, democrats, independents and republican came together as one people for the good of our nation and rallied around a republican president. But there are many republicans that will never rally around a democratic president. That is partisan and unpatriotic. Some republicans are far from being patriotic and loyal Americans because they put their party and ideology before country.

@snarkydude: blacks didn't vote against the GOP, they voted FOR Obama....big difference.

Oh, that's right, blacks didn't vote against Romney, especially after his 47% remark. You are a hoot. But I understand your need to spin your story so it's always the other guy's fault.

Obama promised everything to every group....and continues to do so.

So, Obama promised what to the rich? Or are they not part of the "everything to every group"? And Romney never promised his constituents anything?

The GOP is the party of commerce. They understand making a profit, and they understand that the free enterprise system is the backbone of this country.

That seems to only benefit the rich. The poor and middle class seems to have been left out of the GOP's profit margins. Once again, you are a hoot!

@Used2baFreeCountry: Now tell us how many died out of the 22 slashed with a knife?

Okay: The injuries were gruesome, and reportedly include cut-off fingers and ears, but this story had a different outcome from the massacre 8,000 miles away in Newtown, Conn. Everyone survived.

@Save our Republic: Not one attack during the Bush years ever had democrats foaming at the mouth in rage and convening congressional hearings into whether the administration was incompetent, inept or complacent and responsible for not stopping the attacks. That's because democrats pulled together with republicans in an effort to support our efforts in the war against terrorism. But republicans, today, prefer to attack Americans rather than support the actual war on terrorism. Patriots? Not hardly. More like opportunists and partisans.

@snarkydude: You can draw two conclusions from this study, assuming it is correct: 1. black voters will turn out en masse to vote for a black candidate, regardless of his record, no matter how bad he is. Marion Barry is a good example. 2. white voters just get sick of the whole mess and stay home.

When one candidate disparages certain groups of people, it's no wonder people in those groups would vote against him. Republicans only have themselves to blame. They spit on the blacks, Hispanics and anyone not white who doesn't follow their ideology. They incentivized enough people to ensure their failure to win the election.

How do we know what not to put on Facebook if we don't know what upset this plastic surgeon?

But I confess – I don't have a Facebook account and don't view other people's Facebook pages. But I'm still curious about what she posted that got him so upset. What post merits a waterboarding in a toilet and bathtub?

@davidxto: Yes, yes, I understand that. However the historical reality is dominant. But let's make sure our definitions are understood. By merit, do you mean really high achievement or deserving or some other meaning? If scholarships are denied to persons of highest achievement in favor of some other idea then is that fair? Logical? Efficient? The best investment for the general good?

The program today is entirely merit-based, meaning that a student's ability to pay for his or her own education is not a factor in determining if he or she receives it. Previously, traditional-college-age students whose family income exceeded $100,000 per year were disqualified from the program.

So Hope was originally a needs-based scholarship that was merit-based with income qualifications for the families of perspective college students.

Hope was originally intended to help low income students whose parents could not afford to finance their children's college education and you wish to muddy the waters so high income students who's parents can afford to send them to college get subsidized on the backs of the poor. Yeah, that's fair.

@Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass: What I got is that you are a liar. Go back over this thread and you'll see you lied. You are a pitiful creature that can't even have a fair argument without lying.

Me: Think IBM? They should called it the tiniest ad.

You: So, you think they shouldn't get credit? They shouldn't admit that they did it?

Me: My comment was the fact that the video looked more like an ad with the "Think IBM" tag at the end. They have every right to promote themselves. I was casing no aspersions. I thought the film was quite remarkable. Trying to start an argument, TJS?

You: Oh, no. Just trying to understand why you would dismiss such an achievement as an advertisement, when clearly that's what it is...despite this being one advertisement that deserves watching again and again. Also the "making of" feature...

Me: Just as I thought, you are trying to start another useless argument. Re-read my response, "I thought the film was quite remarkable."

Calling the video the tiniest ad isn't dismissing any achievement – You got that?

@Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass: I heard your fan club only has one member: you. Other Dan Matthews Fan Clubs have many more. I stand by my previous comment. You don't know much about fan clubs.

@Save our Republic: So, you think that none of the 11 attacks against US embassies and consulates needed any investigation in how to prevent further attacks? Maybe that's why we had 11 of them before Obama?

And what does replacing US Attorneys done by all previous administrations have to do with US embassy attacks?

@ppensyl: He already operates a business on this site, so no, not anti business. Wish we had a sarcasm button. Maybe I should have used the winking button.

@davidxto: Here's the way it really works: the really, really smart, hard working but poor student is told, "sorry son, no scholarships because you are not in the right group earmarked in Washington."

Actually the earmarks are closer to home when it comes to Lotto in Georgia. Washington has nothing to do with state lotteries.

The republicans have changed the basic thrust of the Hope scholarships from needs-based to merit-based. Of course any low income student receiving Hope is merit qualified whereas high income students are rarely needs based.

Congratulations. I always enjoy wins by the underdogs. They are sweeter because they are unexpected.

The story ignores the serious medical, social and psychological problems of homosexuals. Some studies have shown that homosexuals have shorter lifespans than the rest of the population, are more likely that the heterosexual population to have had a mental disorder, and more likely to abuse foster or adoptive children than heterosexual parents.

Like families headed by heterosexual parents, lesbian and gay parents and their children are a diverse group. Unlike heterosexual parents and their children, however, lesbian and gay parents and their children are often subject to prejudice because of their sexual orientation that can turn judges, legislators, professionals, and the public against them, sometimes resulting in negative outcomes, such as loss of physical custody, restrictions on visitation, and prohibitions against adoption. Negative attitudes about lesbian and gay parenting may be held in the population at large as well as by psychologists. As with beliefs about other socially stigmatized groups, the beliefs held generally in society about lesbians and gay men are often not based in personal experience, but are frequently culturally transmitted.

The psychiatric, psychological, and social work professions do not consider homosexual orientation to be a mental disorder. Many years ago, the American Psychiatric Association removed "homosexuality" from its list of mental disorders, stating that "homosexuality per se implies no impairment in judgment, stability, reliability, or general social or vocational capabilities". In 1975, the American Psychological Association took the same position and urged all mental health professionals to help dispel the stigma of mental illness that had long been associated with homosexual orientation. The National Association of Social Workers has a similar policy.

Beliefs that lesbian and gay adults are not fit parents likewise have no empirical foundation. Lesbian and heterosexual women have not been found to differ markedly either in their overall mental health or in their approaches to child rearing. The results of some studies suggest that lesbian mothers' and gay fathers' parenting skills may be superior to those of matched heterosexual couples. http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/parenting.aspx#

Study published in the October 2012 issue of the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry:   The children had multiple risk factors at the time of adoption, including premature birth, prenatal substance exposure, abuse or neglect, and multiple prior placements. The psychologists acquired information regarding these biological and environmental risk factors from birth records, court reports and Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services records.   The children adopted by gay and lesbian families had more risk factors at the time of their  placement; out of nine risk factors, they averaged one additional risk factor, compared with the children adopted by heterosexual parents.   "The children adopted by gay and lesbian parents had more challenges before they were adopted and yet they end up in the same place, which is impressive," said Letitia Anne Peplau, a distinguished research professor of psychology at UCLA and co-author of the study. http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/foster-children-adopted-by-gay-2397...

Research indicates that kids of gay parents show few differences in achievement, mental health, social functioning and other measures, these kids may have the advantage of open-mindedness, tolerance and role models for equitable relationships, according to some research.

If you really want real information about the flawed study that this author cited see: http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_molestation.html

@jtsim: Here's one for ya. I would like to see restrictions on what can be bought with EBT cards.

I'm sure that many liberals would agree to restriction on the use of EBT cards, I certainly do.

Here one for you: would you agree that people who can afford to send their kids to college shouldn't be eligible for a needs-based scholarship?

@Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass: Being chair of the Oconee County Democratic Committee is like being president of the local chapter of the I Love Lucy fan club. Yeah, there was a ballot, but no, it doesn't count as an "elected position".

You must have a case of "elective" envy. Your comparison proves you don't know much about fan clubs.

@crazy8golfer: When you get a free afternoon, let me know and I will ride you around Oconee Co and Clarke Co. If you open your eyes, you will see where the anti-business is really at !!!!!!!

Are you really crazy? Or are you just faking it?

Sarcasm can be a deadly foe to those who's sense of humor takes a back seat in the roller coaster ride of indignation.

@Curls: ACC schools are not safe.

Probably a lot safer than many homes and neighborhoods.