This is a good time of year to remember that the Bill of Rights says that our government shall not establish a religion or church. It doesn't say that government must stamp out all religions.

As to displays on public property, it looks like the Laffey administration pretty much settled it. As long as all religions are welcome to display, there is no problem.

To the College Republicans.
There is a Army recruiting office at
4 Woodroff Place,Narragansett RI if you
need transportation email me

Ron

Hey Ron,

A pair of witnesses to what has been going on in the Sudan are coming to Providence on Sunday to discuss what they’ve seen. If you need a ride to the event so you can tell the speakers that when an Arab government starts slaughtering its own population, it’s nobody’s damn business but their own, so everyone else should just butt-out, I’m sure someone can arrange it for you.

Thanks for the info Andy.
Are you goining me, in urging the College Republicans to enlist?

Are you going to tell people in the audience on Sunday that they have no business trying to help people in Darfur, Ronnie? Same answer.

I'll bet "ron" is standing outside the recruiting office eagerly waiting to enlist, while texting in his ridiculous rants, right?

He's probably one of those leftist nuts back in the 1970's that gave our soldiers' a welcome home at the airport by calling them babykillers and spitting on them.

And what exactly does keeping Christ in Christmas have to do with Army recruiting -- which is up?

To Andrew and Will
I servred our country in Vietman from
Feb 1971 to March 1972....and you ??

Both Comedian/Ventriloquist VP dick cheney (draft dodger)And (coward)bush jr
have said that i was in their thoughts and prayers while i was in Vietnam,
I do not forgive the College Republican
COWARDS

Ron, buddy, I'm a little confused, too. Why are you mad at the College Republicans? Is it because college kids got a deferment from the draft in the 70's? (This was egregious, by the way.) Are you making them the proxy for Bush and Cheney (who I agree do not have stellar records of military service)?

Susan i am not mad at anyone.
I do think, that the College Republicans
who claim to support the bush/cheney war in iraq,should enlist NOW, Andy does not agree

Ron,

I’ve never served in the military. And I never discount the experience of those who have. But I’m not going to let anyone in this forum, no matter how honorable their record might be, try to bully others into silence.

All of our citizens, civilian and military have to take part in making the decisions about where this country goes. And decisions to stand quietly by and do nothing while other governments slaughter their own citizens have consequences for real people, just like the decision to take military action does.

Regardless of the ridiculosity of your rants, thank you for your service in the military, and by extention to America.

While the topic is temporarily shifted, one can be in favor of something without necessarily doing it yourself (although, it so happens that several of the URI CR's actually are members of the military and ROTC) -- but again, that's their choice in a free society to make on there own. (As I've mentioned in past postings) my cousin was the first military casuality in RI and he lost 4 internal organs. Fortunately, after a very lengthy recovery, he lived. Without our presence in the Middle East, a lot more people will die, not less. You're offering a false choice.

Unlike in Vietnam, we have a military entirely made up of people who voluntarily serve in it. I don't like the idea of war anymore than the next person, but I know it's unfortunately necessary when confronted by hostile forces that want nothing less than our heads. If we don't take care of the problems we face in the Middle East and elsewhere sooner, they are going to get a lot worst in the future. We might stop fighting, but that doesn't mean that they will. As Reagan once said, "you can have 'peace' in the next five seconds, all you have to do is surrender."

Thanks for explaining, Ron.

My biggest concern about the action in Iraq is the strategy chosen by the Bush administration. Whether or not I agree with our going into Iraq, from what I have read, they made the decision to do so with good intention - i.e., not for oil (okay, not directly) or for brainless colonialism.

But then they seem to have ignored the advice of our generals as to how best to handle a volatile (military) situation, thereby unnecessarily endangering the mission that they chose to undertake.

Ahh, Bilodeau, that hateful little man. My favorite part of that "Grand Old Paper" I saw a year ago was the poster that said something to the effect of "This Is My Kind of Diversity" and then showed a picture of different guns. Cute.

You know how I counter this horrific "War on Christmas" that was made up by Fox News? I say "Merry Christmas" to the people I know that celebrate Christmas, "Happy Hanukkah" to those who celebrate Hanukkah, and "Happy Holidays" to anybody I don't know. Why? Because it's the courteous thing to do. There is no "war" here. Santa's not under fire and Jesus isn't taking cover from mortar rounds.

It's a simple issue of semantics, people, nothing to see here. If you can't handle somebody celebrating a different holiday than you or choosing a different way to worship, than you have the problem, not them. And these stunts that Bilodeau regularly pulls are nothing more than hateful, closed-minded, and small.

People are different. It's not that big of a deal.

Ah, those College Republicans - they're such cards. I love their cute stunts, like this and the white-boy scholarships. I'll hug one and drop some change in the kettle.
I file this under "manufactured outrage." I've said "Merry Christmas" to people of all faiths - I've even said it to Jewish friends, and even blacks who celebrate Kwanzaa instead of Christmas, and neither was offended. A holiday greeting is a holiday greeting, and without Bill O'Reilly to fan the flames, I don't think people really care. As for the serious PC leftists who get cheesed about it...save the hardcore stance for more important issues.

amen and happy holidays rhody. you've said it perfectly

Kudos to the URI College Republicans for their provocative and poignant efforts. Thank GOD somebody challenges the subversive ACLU especially here in liberal Rhode Island. Steve Brown gets more media face time and ProJo ink than Gov. Carcieri does.
ACLU = A disgusting organization
Go get 'em college Repubs.
The nation thanks you!!!!

The ACLU was there when Rush Limbaugh needed them. 'Nuff said.

How is Ryan Bilodeau a "mean little man"? The kid has balls, and get things done.

My husband, eldest son (9) and I went to see our younger son in a Christmas pageant. It was _very_ Christian, and Christmassy as well. Absolutely no 'Happy Holidays'.

Of course, this _was_ in a church. The impression I'm getting is that some people won't be satisified until the Gospel story is being dramatized at his elementary school.

Also, I haven't seen any 'holiday trees' so far this year - lots of Christmas trees. Is the effort to prevent sectarian domination of the public commons the extent of the 'war on Christmas' or is there something I'm missing?

Here are more than enough examples, Robert:

A fifth grade student was told he could not participate in a school project where students learned economics by setting up store fronts and ‘selling’ products they had created to their classmates. Why? Because he wanted to sell homemade candy cane ornaments with an attached message explaining the religious origin of candy canes. Student officials made the boy remove the religious explanation before he could participate.

A worker was fired from her job for singing a religious song during the sing-along entertainment presentations at an office Christmas party.

Students in one school were told to write an essay on a topic of their choice during the month of December. When one student decided to write about Christmas, the teacher refused to grade his essay.

Some citizens complained of “insensitivity” of school board members when they refused to discontinue calling the school’s winter break a “Christmas vacation.”

In one community, police ordered the local firehouse to take down its Christmas tree after neighbors called law enforcement claiming to be offended by the display.