Mo was right. Obama is wrong.

Sequestration has placed President Obama in an untenable position as there are only two avenues available to him. He must now choose between the painful and the painless, each fraught with political peril. The White House and its media minions have broadcast ad nauseum data examining the impact of the sequester on a state by state basis, and, in doing so, have positioned the President to ride to the rescue, so to speak. By agreeing with Republicans to reduce the bloated federal budget painlessly, targeting, for instance, the massive amount of grants for snail-darter type studies, university faculty would retain their employment and simply return to the classroom. The problem with this choice, however, is that absent pain the public would clamor for more. In this manner, President Obama achieves victory in battle and loss in war, as the Democrat Party advocates a larger role for government. Conversely, by inflicting pain on the public and the economy, President Obama and the Democrat Party hope to shape popular support in favor of greater taxation and few, if any, reductions in federal spending. In order for this to occur the public must be treated to a massive barrage of the potential horror and little or no reportage regarding his ability to choose otherwise, and, it is here that the Decatur Daily is performing its loyal function. Such are the political calculations currently being weighed in the oval office. Most observers believe the president has no choice but to opt for pain for purely political reasons.

It's like I tell my kids, you get what you get and you don't pitch a fit. The American populus is to blame for all this crap in Washington and (Alabama & Decatur). After all, we have been electing the same morons over and over for decades. Now, it is time to pay to piper. Our country's budget is no different than any other household budget. If you out spend what you earn, then be prepared to suffer the consequences when the debt is out of control and the collection agencies come calling. We are dependent on Federal dollars, from highway projects, to health care, welfare, and all the other warm and fuzzy feel goods. Bottom line, we are in deep do! It's time to trim the fat, cut costs and save money. The first fat-trimming needs to occur in Washington. Just how many Senators & Representives does each State really need? I have no doubt billions of dollars are being wasted everyday in Washington with unnecessary office space, worthless programs, aide to foreign countries, etc. What does it take to fix the Postal Service? Billions of dollars lost.

Cutting our military is not the answer. The Middle East hates America. China hates America. Russia hates American. North Korea hates America. North Vietnam hates America. We have fought these countries in wars before and eventually we will do so again. They are patiently waiting for their opportunity and a weak US military won't help us when that time comes.

decatur, ask yourself Why these countries you listed hate america. could it be that we have gone on imperialistic wars of aggression for centuries, with the latest excursions based on bald faced lies?

put yourself in an iraqi or afghan sandals for a minute. you better believe if hundreds of thousands of troops came and 'liberated' my country, leveled thousands of buildings and killed over a million civilians in the process that you would not be 'okay' with that. you may even hate those guys.

they dont hate us for our freedoms, or any other happy horsecrap like that. they hate us because of what we've done.

all that to say, maybe spending over half a trillion dollars on war and its implements every single year is not a good idea. check that, it is Never a good idea, certainly. war is not inevitable, as you seem to think. we make it so.

Speaking of gun analogies there is an old saying "Never pull a gun on someone unless you intend to use it". If Obama never intended for the sequester to actually be implemented then White House should have never proposed it. Yes Congress voted for it so blame to go around to be sure. But Obama owns it, pure and simple. How the Daily thinks otherwise is beyond my comprehension.

@James: So, if we make war inevitable; then, war is indeed inevitable, right? I think what you are trying to say is that war can be eliminated if everyone gets along and no one has evil intentions or desires power. Since humans, by nature, have a natural desire for power (whether certain individuals realize it yet or not) and control, war is indeed inevitable. There will always be someone/or group somewhere that has the idea that they can control another people or what those people do. Unless those people just accept the take over, there will be war and backlash. Since it takes just one time for this to happen for war to exist, the sad state of this world is that war is inevitable.

i refuse to believe that, jay. as eisenhower said, 'I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.' and i believe if more than just one percent of the population had to do the fighting in this country, or had some sort of stake in it at the very least, it would be over yesterday.

imagine if you were on the front lines. or a trauma doc. or an IED removalist. or just in the honor guard here at home who had to hand the flags to one grieving family after another.

one grieving family is too many. what was the purpose of each and every war you can think of? was it 'worth it'? with few exceptions, i say no.

That has nothing to do with what I said. You made an argument, be it a poor one, that war in not inevitable. I am not arguing the fact that war is a horrible thing and that I wish it could never happen. I am arguing the point you tried to make about it not being inevitable, and I'm sorry, you are wrong. My brother is entering the Marines this year and I support his decision. I also know that, one day, we may too be a family that receives that folded flag. So please, don't preach about how bad war is. No matter how bad it is, there is no possible way to avoid it. As long as there is evil in the world, there will be war.

Let's just say that the U.S. all of a sudden makes a decree that we will no longer engage in any war with anyone. If for some odd and seemingly impossible reason, no one attacks us at home (we have enough people that hate us that this would happen within hours of that decision and their attack is an act of war) there will still be people in other countries to fight each other because 1) They don't believe in the same thing or 2) they want the land or resources the other has. While people rule this planet there WILL be evil and there WILL be war. I hate it and I wish my brother had no Marine Corp. to enlist in, but I understand his decision and the need to keep these military branches because of the constant threat of war, whether created overseas or at home.

jay, i dont have the time or inclination to spell out everything for you. i also didnt realize i was being graded. and oorah to your brother, marines take a special breed. i was army myself. and there IS a way to avoid it. you act like its rocket science, and your very stance indicates you are part of the problem of perpetuating it. dont have it. thats it. magic, right?

fine, im willing to accept that other people will war. there is no law, rule, decree or anything ANYWHERE that says americans have to do a damn thing about it. that is why i mentioned in my first post that we are hated because of what weve done, which is war over the entire planet.

If there is a way to avoid it and you come up with it, I will personally drive you to Washington while you make national news with your announcement. Until then, war will continue. Thanks for an adult debate. I thought we were having a nice discussion until you ran out of time or inclination trying to explain your side.

James, move to Canada!