" mattie since you are "more informed" and more "open-minded", why do you think all liberals are from eugene? seems a little narrow-minded wouldnt you agree? since you are "more informed" and more "open-minded" then why cant you accept the fact that g.w.bush put us into this rut by sending billions of dollars to fund a war with the wrong country? since you are "more informed" and more "open-minded" then why do you forget the fact that it was g.w.bush's idea for the 790 billion dollar stimulus package? i dont think you are well informed and open minded at all...cause it seems to me like you are watching to much tv and believing everything you hear..you forget that all tv stations are out for ratings...saying that, i think that NOW, you are well-informed and its up to you to become open-minded.

oh and for the record i am a nyssa bulldog. i have blue and white running through my veins. i have been to eugene once and nobody ever talked to me about politics. if you keep thinking about my name stuckduck and trying to dissect it and come up with a meaning. well get this "MR. OPEN-MINDEDNESS" , it has no meaning. do you want me to change it to "hey i dont agree with you" or how about "mr.bulldog". thanks mattie you just opened my mind to new names. good for you. "

" What do I think? I think you think Bush is the greatest President ever. What do YOU think? "

" Mr. Hicks
if I remember rihgt a few months ago you stated in your colume that b.h.o. was not stupid you were right which saddins me because if he were maybe we wouldn't have all these current new problems i.e health care and the cap and tax bill and pay your own medical bills Iam tired of paying for everyone besides myself MOST OF THIS COUNTRY IS CONSERATIVE not dem not rep. "

" If George Bush had... Stunning list of achievements:

If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?

IF George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent "Austrian language," would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?

If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current on their income taxes, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to “Cinco de Cuatro” in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the fourth of May (Cuatro de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?

If George W. Bush had misspelled the word advice would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potatoe as “proof” of what a dunce he is?

If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on “Earth Day,” would you have concluded he’s a hypocrite?

If George W. Bush’s administration had okayed Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually “get” what happened on 9-11?

If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?

If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans, would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?

If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again 10 times within years, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan’s holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?

So, what do you think? "

" Mr. Duck,

Yes, I did read the article, but your comments are so much more entertaining, and therefore, require a response.
If you want to state that Pres. Clinton was the greatest president in the last 40 years, than simply say so and in a way that people will understand--not the way that the hippies in Eugene taught you.
Moving on . . .
You haven't written anything to inform me, or anyone, as to your so-called openmindedness. By the tenor of your post, you are insinuating that only progressive/fascists are the only ones who are open-minded.
I have to tell you that I once drank the progressive kool-aid, and yes, I even voted for Bill Clinton--once! I attribute it to the fact that he was the better of the two choices, and that I was in graduate school being subjected to the "open-minded" pabulum of my professors. I was very much a progressive-leaning student until I decided to open my mind and listen to arguments from the right. Turns out the the right made, and now makes so much more sense. You'll find that most conservatives are more open-minded than progressives, and more well-informed, too. We're conservative by choice, not by dictatorial fiat.
On top of all of that talk about our respective political philosophy, I learned in punctuate correctly, so that I won't sound (or read) like a Duck stuck in Ontario. :-) "

" LOL Stuckduck lol "

" hey mattie are you even reading the article? or are you waiting for me to blog something, then trying to make a meaningful statement of your own? i stated that President Clinton was the greatest president in the last 40 years. and why do you think i went to the University of Oregon? are you afraid that open-minded people must need a college education, to make you sound like an idiot. well in this case, they dont "

" Stuckduck,
Maybe your U of O education forgot to teach you that Clinton had Republican majorities for most of his presidency. Truth is, both parties are responsible for the mess we're in right now. B. Hussein Obama is simply desirous of using an ever larger shovel to entrench us deeper into financial ruin.
The messiah (lowercase m), to whom you refer as "the greatest president we've had in 40 years" has no interest in creating a balanced budget, or reducing government spending. After all, it was supposed to be about "Hope" and "Change," right. He tries to push through his progressive/fascist agenda at breakneck speed, which is making the countries who are bankrolling us--namely India, China, Brazil--very nervous. I think that is what Roy is talking about here.
Fortunately, the American People are starting to get a clue. We were tired of Bush's spending, and we're sick of Obama's, and we don't like the direction he's taking us.
You don't need a University of Oregon education to realize that progressives such as yourself fail at making a solid point on the issues. You simply berate a man who is expressing his opinion as is his First Amendment right. You sound no different than other like-minded progressive/fascists and how they are acting toward people expressing theirs at town hall meetings across the country. "

" Oh my...I didn't realize we had so many Socialists in our midst. For those of you who want to face real facts and not some Socialist fantasy on how government spending will lead us to Nirvana, then check this site out:

usdebtclock.org

Since most of you have obviously been taught in our Socialist school system, I'm wondering if any of you can see the ramifications of our unsupportable debt and do a little math on your own.

Peace "

" roy, thats what you get for sending an email to the greatest president we've had in the last 40 years. everybody is moaning and b1tching about how tough they have it, and "blame it on democrats." everyone think back to a time when we were prosperous and loving america. yup it was the 90's. guess who was the the president of the 90's? Mr.Clinton.

everybody got so spoiled in the 90's that we didnt know how to live another life. but i guess in your case roy, you arent satisfied unless you are complaining about something. even in the most precious years of your life, the time when your wife and daughter were here. you still spent it being mad at something. in the twilight of your life dont you think its about time to stop fighting everything, try to relax and take a break from all this.

believe me there arent that many people waiting to read your column. and they already have the same mindset as you. but they dont need fuel to the fire. let them spend it with their family, and stop trying to get everyone else angry, and let them try to gain their own peace. "

" actnaliegde? Were you trying to spell acknowledge? Im not sure. "

" its insulting to see someones irs problem get this kind of atention when the wpd wso and fbi or state police will not even actnaliegde a home invasion robery "

" So much for personal responsibilty and integrity. First he lives off a government pension; now we find out he doesn't pay his medical bills. Hmm sounds like the illegals and deadbeats he's always rallying against. You go Roy..cheat the system!!! "

" Mr. Hicks,
Don't you see the irony in railing against national health care at the same time you are complaining about the tax fallout from your dead wife's medical bills? Who do you think got left holding the bag for your dead wife's bills? All of us middle class taxpayers, that's who, in the form of higher medical premiums. Your column is just more proof our system is broken. "

" Gosh Roy, why didn't you pay your wife's hospital bills? You owed them, didn't you? Did you ever think that deadbeats like you cause the cost of health care to go up for people who actually pay their health care bills? I guess its bad to be a dead beat unless its so you don't have to pay your bills? What a hypocrite! Typical Republican conservative! "

" The IRS makes up rules as they go, then they revise them when it suits their mood. There is no argument, no logic. If you thought you couldn't afford a family, you'll be more chagrined to learn you can't afford to live either. Good thing so many never learned how to read or they'd believe the math and wonder when the ground is going to collapse from under us. "

" As a tax professional I sincerely hope that you consider geting a new accountant because if this is truly how she explained it to you then you need to get some competent advise. and if you think the IRS cares how you feel about President Obama you are sadly misinformed "