Wow!   I've never thought about polygamy much, but doing so makes my head hurt.  

Living contentedly with one woman (and, I am sure from the ladies' perspective, one man) is a hard enough proposition; living with more than one would be a damned tough job of work.  I don't mean that marriage isn't worth every consideration and accommodation; in my own personal experience, it is a richly rewarding centerpiece of life.

But, managing all of the various aspects of human relations involved in a marriage is, under ordinary domestic conditions, a pretty consuming project.  Doing so with more than one wife (or husband) would require a small State Department and maybe a mediation service as well.  I think that such a requirement would sink an enterprise like polygamy.  Either that, or somebody is going to have a seond class role.  And, how would the current free and easy divorce climate adapt to paying child support to divorced spouses?

My head still hurts.  I think that the peace and good order of society (even if the Christian aspects are ignored) dictate a ban on such behavior.

Can "posts" include "comments" to them, one or more?  Some of the most interesting things I read here are responses to the initial posts.

Frightening, is all that I can say about the essay.  Along the line of Mr. Mitchell's thinking, I, too, wonder whether the "neo-con", interventionist side of Mr. Kristol's politics isn't blinding him to the dangers of linking these two formidable campaigners in a fight against our man, who obviously is learning his way through the political thickets as we write about this.

Who wants a "grand victory" as Mr. Kristol phrases it?  I want to win at any cost and in any manner possible; and the soonest, easiest, and least costly victory possible.  My view of a go0d fight is one in which my side has overwhelming strength, perfect intelligence, the advantage of surprise, and strikes a devastating blow at the outset, so that mopping up is all that is left.

Casey, I am over half a century past my Army experience, but in my time in the Infantry (the Queen of Battle) I can think of few days when any lady of my acquaintance could have stood the pace, the dirt, the heat, and the cold, or would have wanted to.  

I had a better view of General Ordinero before I read this, but than I had forgotten my own rule, that any man above the rank of colonel is more politican than soldier.  I am four square with you on this issue.

I'd like very much to read Obama's original proposal for the book, what he said he was going to write, as well as the proofs of the comment in the author's section of the planned publications.  I'll bet that, somewhere in that material, is a "smoking gun" from Obama himself about being born in Kenya or, at least, his approval of the misrepresentation in the advertisement. That claim makes him appear even more exotic and "black" than the present tale.  

However, one cannot ignore the likelihood that the Axelrod broom has swept that trail clean.  He seems as efficient as the KGB.

I cannot say about others, but for my own part, I intend to vote for Romney regardless of the campaigns and whatever else occurs between now and November.  

The current crowd of left-wing totalitarian mandarins HAS to have their hands jerked from the levers of power if the Republic is to have any chance of surviving.

A determined and conservative Congress is equally essential.  But, getting the "government by decree" crowd out of the White House and the seats of bureaucratic power is the critical thing.

Stand Fast, Brother Ehrlich, and damn the opposition!  May all good men and ladies rally to your flag.

Washington, Lincoln, Reagan: how can one nation be so very fortunate?  Perhaps the Lord does look out for the United States!  

I think that Neolibertarian may be correct: "I don't think we'll ever have a 'first principles' president again, until Americans, themselves, are able to return to their own first principles."

The whole idea of a non-partisan federal bureaucracy under the Civil Service (see, Theodore Roosevelt on the point) is, at this moment in time, ridiculous.   What I read seems to confirm that the ranks of the federal agencies are filled with Marxists and other assorted left-wingers and totalitarians. 

This lady ought to be relieved of her duties and discharged from her position and the people who supervise her ought to be demoted and reprimanded.

My list (for openers):

High Noon, The Searchers, The Professionals, Ride the High Country, Shane, the original True Grit, The Virginian, Broken Lance, Seven Men from Now, Buchanan Rides Alone, Colorado Territory.

Once you've watched those or any several of them, you'll be ruined for what passes as good cinema these days.

What a wonderful range of opinions!  It is one of the main reasons that I love Ricochet and Ricochevians.  But, where is Dave Carter?   The champion of the No. 2 team in the country ought to weigh in here.

I find it difficult to make any recommendation to the Israeli PM.  Who among us can imagine taking responsibility for the consequences of an armed strike against Iran when we here in the US do not have to bear the immediate results of the blow?  

I can only wish him well and pray for his considered resolution in this matter, as I think that he truly is dealing with the life of a nation.

I must say, though, that the whole business reminds me of 1936 (the Rhineland re-militarization) and the succeeding 1938 Munich debacle.  When the cost of stopping an aggressive tyrant was "relatively" cheap, the nations in his path hadn't the courage to face the reality of the threat nor the will to fight; when it became impossible not to resist, they hadn't the means. 

BUT, when confrontation becomes necessary, it is always better in my own experience to strike one's hardest when one thinks it best (and to continue striking until the matter is finished) and not to await the other fellow's initial blow.

Is this, perhaps, another way of making the same point that Daniel Kahneman makes in Fast Thinking, Slow Thinking?   I am reading with profit that book right now.

I'll buy Mr. Goldberg's book today, based upon your recommendation.

Steyn in full cry!  Glorious to behold.  

He also wins the "name game" with "Fauxcahontas Crockagawea".  What a splendid wit the man has.

I agree with you, Miss Mollie.  

This reminds me of the poor folks in Czechoslovakia at the time of Munich in 1938 and in Hungary in 1956, which I remember all too well.

 Promises, promises: governments make and accept them so readily and disregard them so freely.

Casey, did VP Cheney openly turn on President Bush over their differences on this issue?  I have no recollection of his doing that.