To Chicago Trial Lawyer:

I apologize for lumping all trial lawyers together. I try not to generalize, but in this case I owe some of you an apology.

My point was that, in many cases, justice is not served. Ridiculous awards are sought and won, people like O.J. get off, and much of our society begins to view the legal system as a racket instead of a bulwark.

Sorry if I offended you, but I have little regard for most of the Tier 1 candidates and believe that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

I would have to agree with LM. "Gridlock" is not a bad thing…think of it as congress putting the brakes on the Bush administration's disasterous legislation that would only serve to put us deeper into debt, deprive people being held by the US of the most fundamental right of Habeus Corpus, continue to allow the US to kidnap people around the globe and have them shipped to black sites (extraordinary rendition), torture people, etc etc. It's a GOOD thing that the administration no longer has a rubber stamp congress which will pass any piece of legislation that Lord Pissypants demands.

While congress as a whole deserves to be admonished for its complicit behaviour in the Bush administration's morally bankrupt reign for the past 6 years, the majority of the blame lays square on the shoulders of Bush and his cronies. Congress may have shirked its responsibility to oversight in this country, but that is no excuse for an Executive who willfully disregards the law (FISA, signing statements, cover-up of the Tillman, Gonzales, etc investigations).

Furthermore, I think everyone should keep in mind that the current congress has passed twice as much legislation as the previous congress and Republicans are filibustering and obstructing legislation whenever they get the chance, including the bill that would have allowed for more time at home between redeployments for our troops.

The people in the Bush Administration are plain Thugs. When America makes a mistake is gigantic!

TO Bruce in Franklin, TN:

I too concur that this has ben a disastrous presidency but I also thank God for what you term as "gridlock" - as it is all that separates us from dictatorship here. I also cuncur with your belief taht Congress is complicit in this travesty as they have routinely found it all too comfortable to 'let George do it' whenever something difficult (say, issues of war and peace, the Congressional prerogative to deny consent for inapppropriately sychophantic cabinet nominees, or their Constitutional duty to impeach, perhaps?) required their attention and policital courage.

I would think at this point in time that no matter if you are republican or democrat you would be turning your back on Bush. He is totally out of step with either party at this point and seems to be surrounding himself with a very small group of people giving him guidance.

He has no vision of the future of this country, is willing to invade any country for any reason rather than use all other avenues to resolve the issue rather than an all out attack by American forces. Forget diplomacy, attack first, shoot first and ask questions later seems to be his game plan. That is not the type of press a president wants when his history is written later. Yes, that strategy worked back in the early days of this country and others, but it is beyond outdated today.

He needs guidance by the people of this country, yet a small percentage of the people are still willing to sign on with his decisions. These are the people we have to worry about as they have no idea of past history.

If they would read how certain leaders of other countries have played the political game so that they too took power (think Hitler here) in such a way that the people they were governing never saw it coming and soon were part of a government along the lines of Germany during Hitler's rain of terror.

The only way this country of ours has stayed safe from a politician’s goal of dominance is our checks and balances. Bush has eroded those protocols and congress has giddily voted to give him those rights. It indeed may be to late to get those rights back without some type of citizen outcry, but the first thing we can do is call for impeachment of Cheney and Bush for one impeachment without the other will only put the true war monger in charge, that being Cheney.

My question is this, why did any of our elected officials give this president or any other president these rights since it completely goes against our constitution? How could any one of them turn their back on the American people and grant these horrible rights to a president with no new rules of checks and balances? They just signed our country over to these two clowns and are now beginning to question why they have been mislead. The simple answer is, you sold us out congress.

If you have ever heard this guy talk about law, you would wonder where he got his degree from. The answer is Harvard.The problem is that he doesn't know anything about the law. That's the reason he is still employed by the Bush Administration.

Regardless of how much money has been raised by the candidates, I would like to know how each of them plans to pay off the natural debt, IMPROVE EDUCATION,and provide health care for all Americans. We are in our early 70's and we married 53 years ago. If we had not begun the practice of saving something each month, we would be in a home instead of living independently. We worry about the Senior Citizens to come.

Dearest Bruce,

I was one of the trial lawyers in attendance at this afternoon's convention, and though I agree with your, and the candidates', views on the legacy left by the Bush administration, I question the reasoning behind your characterization of trial lawyers. Who else in your community do you know whose sole job it is to uphold the United States Constitution? Further, who, besides trial lawyers, do you know that provides an opportunity for an ordinary American to walk into court and hold another person or corporation responsible for their acts? Before labeling a group of hard-working officers of the court with such distasteful labels such as those who make a 'mocker of common sense justice', I simply ask that you look deeper into the history of our great nation and learn to have a greater respect for the trial lawyers of America…besides, one of us is going to be your president.

“They’re eating away at the fabric of America, of who we are and what we are,” he said.(John Edwards)

"I have to tell you right now — I didn't plan to talk about this — right now I feel her [Jennifer], I feel her presence…[Jennifer's] inside me and she's talking to you."

This is the last person who should talk about the fabric of America in regards to a legal sense.

This little Hispanic Texan with the squeaky voice and Alzheimer's memory is the Democrats' best asset in their 2008 campaigns.

Why delete a comment decrying the hypocrisy of the candidates (especially since it was the only one posted)?

Such calm and reasoned rhetoric from the candidates! I agree that the Bush presidency will be viewed as an abject failure.

However, this pious group of wannabes is largely responsible for the partisan gridlock in Washington and also partially responsible for the unravelling of the founding fathers vision of the government and the courts. Most of the candidates are in Congress (which has a lower and faster sinking approval rating than Bush) and some have even been trial lawyers (who have made a mockery of common sense justice).

Where are the leaders with vision and integrity? Can't blame them for not wanting to be part of this circus…