Molly I don't think anyone is arguing that. The vast majority of people on both sides of the argument acknowledge that their are differences between the genders and that these differences make for different challenges faced by same-sex couples vs hetero-couples. 
It simply that those of us on the pro-gay marriage side do not believe those challenges outweigh the social benefits of allowing such arrangements.

In regards to the scouts I think the differences between the sexes, especially during the development years, is distinct enough to warrant separate organizations to better meet the needs of their members.

Does no one else besides sawatdeeka have a problem with Christian churches presenting tithing as a commandment of God? How is that any different then saying things like "God commands that Christians don't drink."; "God commands that Christians don't eat pork";"God commands that Christians don't watch R rated movies"; "God commands that Christians don't get tattoos"?

Are you all really ok with people presenting something as a Commandment of God that God did not actually command?

sigh. I am going to have to bail on my very first meetup. I have family in down and they are arriving that afternoon instead of that night.

I plan on being there. This will be the first meetup for me!

Neal Boortz is a huge reason I am a conservative today. Will be missing you Neal.

Simply because I don't want drugs to be illegal doesn't mean I think nothing should be done to stop their spread and use.

Its called public awareness, treatment options, and safer legal alternatives. Cigarettes are a perfect example a drug that is being marginalized through increase public awareness, advanced treatment options, and safer alternatives.  Not only do these options work better and cheaper than law enforcement alternatives, they do so without endangering our civil liberties.
 

I will dispute that fact. Where is that number coming from? The idea that legal alcohol cost society more than drug base crime and non-violent drug user incarnations does seems pretty far fetched.

As oppose to the Federal Government taking my business or home away because someone was selling bath salts on my property without my knowledge? Yes legalize them.

 Also how is saying "drugs are dangerous make them illegal so they won't bein in my neighborhood"  any different from saying "guns are dangerous make them illegal so they won't be in my neighborhood"?

Torchlight 2 is so fun. Its only 20 bucks and I am in constant awe over how well made and fun this game is.

X-Com currently owns all of my free time though.

Still play LoL from time to time. I don't think anyone every really quits LoL, they just go into remission. 

I am a Ayn Rand loving, Thomas Sowell disciple. My wife is a liberal.  Mollie Hemingway, Ed. is dead accurate. Long term respect and coming to the point where you can discuss important issues is important blah, blah, blah, whatever. Listen to Mollie. Its 16 days before your wedding, don't screw it up.

One way or another your wife is going to remember her wedding day in excruciating detail for the rest of your life. As far as your personal happiness goes, Election of the Century <<<< than your wedding day. You need to envelope her so much in your love and affection that she forgets about everything but you. If that means missing out watching election night then suck it up buttercup. Marriage is a high stakes game. Big wins and huge loses. Are you really going to risk marring your "honeymoon period" and wedding memories just to watch Romney beat the crap out of Obama in real time?

My advice? Turn up the charm. Let Romney/Ryan take care of the country for 16 days while you remind your new bride why when it comes to picking men your should always chose conservative.

These topics need to be brought up or there is no point in having a foreign policy debate.

1. Libya
2. Fast and Furious
3. China(I don't know that I agree with Mitt but it needs to be discussed)
4. Iran, the bomb, and Israel.

As for Mitt personally, I want to see him hammer home the important of energy independence and its affect on our economy.

Who is criticizing lefitst pundits for going after Romney and defending Obama? Sure there is a lot a criticism of the supposedly objective MSM for protecting Obama, but criticism of leftist pundits for not attacking Obama? Where is that happening?

 Forgive me for making assumptions but assuming you have some major issues with Romney how many Facebook post have you made broadcasting those issues to your friends and family? I am guessing few if any(Once again apologies for the multiple assumptions, couldn't think of another way to phrase this point). Doesn't it seem kinda of odd to use an "open" forum to attack the guy we want to win?  I don't want anyone pretending Romney is perfect and I don't want anyone lying to their friends to get votes for Romney. What I do want is that when given a choice of using an open forum to attack Romney or go after Obama, that the people who want Romney to win to chose the latter.

I disagree. 

There are no swing voters on Ricochet, but there are lot of Romney campaign workers/volunteers. The fact that they currently have no where to go where they can avoid be swamped with anti-Romeny sentiment is devastating to morale. 

There are no undecided's here but there are a lot of people looking for educated eloquent attacks on Obama and defensiveness of Romney to share with their Undecided friends. Ever editorial our Intelligentsia post not doing either is a lost opportunity.

The MSM also looks at the general trend among our Intelligentsia and reports on that to the general public. If one side all agrees on their guy and the other is ambivalent towards theirs, which guy do you think the undecided is going to gravitate towards?

Lastly, few people, if any  have a problem with honest discussion of problems with the Romney campaign on forum post, tweets, and posts. What we can't understand is why professional editorial space is being used to blast our own guy.

Since when!? Who said that? Who other than Paul Rahe EVER called that this election would be a landslide victory for our candidate, let alone a cake walk? Waaaaaaaaaay back in January all the punditry was  crying that unseating Obama would be a monumental task. The so called "lack of quality" candidates that we anguished over in the primaries was blamed on many of the "quality" picks not liking their odds of unseating Obama in November. 

When did beating Obama become easy? When did the expectations of a close race will a nail bitter finish get replaced by dreams of a crushing Republican Electoral victory? Did I miss a podcast or something? 

Since our country got its back put up against the wall. Conservative pundits blasting George Bush would have helped prevent our current situation and maintained the integrity of our now tarnished Conservative brand. How exactly will Conservative pundits, or hell any pundit who thinks President Obama is a disaster, attacking Romney help the country?

I am assuming that the pundit class is publishing because they believe their words can change this country for the better. In our current situation when is pointing out the flaws of Romney ever going to be of more help than showcasing the failures of Obama?

Be of good cheer

Seven states changed status since last week's Electoral College map, with four moving in Mitt Romney's direction and only three moving toward Barack Obama. Mr. Romney saw Georgia move from "lean" to "safe" Romney, New Hampshire change from "lean" Obama to "toss up," and New Mexico and Pennsylvania both shift from "safe" to "lean" Obama. Mr. Obama saw Oregon shift from "lean" to "safe" Obama, Wisconsin change from "toss up" to "lean" Obama, and Arizona move from "safe" Romney to "lean" Romney.

Mr. Obama is down to 196 "safe" Electoral College votes with four states (51 EC votes) "leaning" in his favor. Mr. Romney's "safe" EC votes increased to 159, with three "lean" states (32 EC votes) that are more than likely to be in his column on Election Day. It should be noted this is the first time since August 1st that Mr. Obama's "safe" EC vote total decreased while Mr. Romney's grew. There are also eight "toss up" states and a coveted 100 EC votes are up for grabs. These states remain too close to call and show little movement...

I have to wait till I get home to watch this, but my initial thought was "I wish more rightwingers would slam big corporations". Corporations are not defenders of the Market and I don't think conservatives should feel any obligations to defend them.