"It smacks of a coup."
Thats a BOLD statement there bud. Ive been in the millitary, any millitary coup is likely to only include one or two branches of the armed services, which could turn things pretty ugly. Ill match the marines and the navy (would never seperate) against the army and air force any day of the week (coast gaurd has other things to do), but well be losing a state or two in the process. A coup in america is pretty much not going to ever happen, any "coup" started in america would be started by average armed citizens not a state department or branch of millitary. And no reasonable group of citizens would ever scream that much unless 2 four year term rule was nullified or voting tampering became much worse (than it is now), not even democrats. Liberals may jump and scream alot but everbody knows, in 4 to 12 years theyll have another one in power, sway it always works.

I've had it up to here with that idiotic phrase. There is no such thing as "the complexities of foreign policy." There's only the obfuscation of the treacherous. Foreign policy is most effective when it's simple and clear: you mess with us, we'll kick your ass back into the Stone Age.

There is nothing seditious about indulging in our fine Nevadan brothels.

Gus... are you really Don Rumsfeld in disguise? I agree with you 100%. Policy should include aide to friendly, needy, humane countries; participate in the political and diplomatic discourse; and generally be a bunch of nice guys. Finally, a general understanding that if you mess with the bull, you are gonna get the horn... and hard!

You see that Rumsfeld is recommending testing of small, tactical nukes? He aint messin around!

Tbox - Might be nothing seditious about it, BUT, if it's your tax dollars workin' up a sweat, it's mine, too. That's a bit too deep, isn't it?

When the Sandanistas lost the election, they insisted on retaining control of Nicaraugua's Justice Ministry.

When State decided this information was above the President's pay grade, it arrogated powers, our powers, unto itself.

The Constitution with which I am familiar does not mention a 4th co-equal branch of Govt.; permanent, un-elected and accountable to no one.

Employees of State are welcome to spend their salaries however they wish, Dave. Now, if this was a subsidized visit, then I'd start poking fingers at the accounting dept. -- How'd you let that pass on the expense account?

Was there a story I missed regarding State and brothels?

Who do these peckerwoods work for? Or THINK they work for? Can Dubya not do some housekeeping based on this? If I pulled this kinda crap on my job, guess where I'd be? On the street in a Duson second!

Tbox - Not word one about it in the story, but Noel's post says 'they' just returned from a tour of Nevada brothels. Curious... Maybe EVERYONE missed it. NOEL????

looks like newt was right after all.

they need to get thier heads screwed on straight, and the ones that cant manage that need to have thier heads handed to them instead.

Try this: http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-hughes052103.asp

or you can google 'State Dept./brothel' and wade through decades of hits.

Thank you, Noel.

Thailand? Thailand!?! Thailand needs an education on prostitution? Holy Coals to Newcastle, Batman!
It's certainly a shady issue. Were they simply receiving a lecture, or was the Gov't paying for a demonstration? Tricky, tricky business.

OTOH, I really apprecaite the link to the Nevada Brothel Network. ;)

One thing I do agree with is Cal-PEP's position that prostitution should be protected by OSHA, as much as I dislike OSHA; prostitutes should be permitted to unionize, as much as I dislike unions, and the people involved should be held accountable for abuses.

I disagree with their concealment of violence and trauma, rather, I think they should be highlighted, for as long as prostitution is illegal, these people cannot seek redress for their injuries.

Prostitution in Nevada currently has a ridiculously high price -- at least according to the bulletin boards. I think part of this is because the novelty of legal prostitution lets Nevadan brothels play on the tourist crowd, rather than the "large male population in need of sexual outlet" that is used to justify the thing.

Oy, I'm starting to rant. If you really want to hear a lecture on fair wages, just let me know.

I mentioned it as an aside, comparing their priorities & judgement to Bush's. I think it's a black mark on Nevada. Besides, it makes it hard to pick out the real prostitutes.
If they have that kind of time on their hands, I'd prefer they concentrate on freeing American slavegirls from their Saud owners.
In fairness, there are many State employees who do a good job. But whoever decided to sandbag the President, treating him as an interloper, should be fired...even if it was Powell himself.

The real question: Shall we be ruled by a Diplo-stocracy, or stick with that pesky 'We, the People' thing?

//Can Dubya not do some housekeeping based on this? //

No, actually, no he can't. The US Gov't has strict laws on when you can fire or hire people:

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/5/pIIIspB.html

I haven't read it all to look for loopholes or anything... like I said, I prefer UN legalese to US legalese.