You can point out that one of the countries that wants the troops out the most - Iran - is supplying ordnance to Shiite militias in Iraq, and also sponsored at least two Hezbollah attacks against the United States - the 1983 bombing of the US Marine barracks in Lebanon, and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing. If Iran wants us out, there must be a good reason to stay...

It would also be a worthwhile project to gather a lot of data from milbloggers and such about the threat Iraq posed to us and the threat it will pose if we abandon that fragile country.

I'm sure you and the Goddess will do fine Spats. Couple of things to try:

Get a subscription to National Review. Start picking out articles (gently!), and suggest that something in one may be of interest. Then lay it on the kitchen counter and walk away without another word about it. Ever.

When in the car going somewhere together, make sure that Rush, Sean, or Glenn is on the radio. Love Savage, but he's a bit rough for a newbie...

When she starts spouting utter crap she heard from some librul teacher (and, trust me, she will!), don't get mad or excited. Just say something like "that's interesting dear, tell me why you think that", and calmly ask quetions to lead her back to the side of the Angels. Fer instance, "the rich don't pay their fair share, blah,blah,yada,yada". Give her a minute to wear down, and ask what a fair amount of HER effort the government should be able to confiscate. She will eventually settle on some number. Then, ask her how much of her time it should be if she made 100K a year. 200K. 500K? A million?

If you ever get vlose to loosing your temper, you automatically lose. That's the way bullerproof teanagers (weren't we all, once?) think.

Just some thoughts. I'm sure you will do fine.

Above all, always give love, unquestioningly. That will always help. Maybe not today, but eventually.

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I can't come to Texas for the celebration. Know that my prayers for a long and happy life together go with you all. May the Lord Bless.

Something else to remember. Francis Schaeffer said something about bringing people to Christainity that applies to secular proselytizing as well: lead not with your gospel but theirs.

Accepting a false ideology alwways produces strain between the ideology and one's natural desires. The key to religious or secular evangelism is to find the point where that strain is strongest. Show how the logical conclusions of that ideology come at odds with the person's desires. A person is not likely to adopt a new ideology unless he or she perceives the old one is broken.

On this issue the key is to demonstrate that the peacenik way means less real peace and not more. Bringing up Neville Chamberlain won't do any good, cuz that was a different enemy. Discrediting today's peaceniks requires demonstraing that al-Qaeda and others were at war with us when we weren't bothering them.