Your right. I apologize for that bit of miss information. But the main point still stands, just replace Target with Toyota and French with Japanese. And you are right, the American empire will undoubtedly fall. I think I stated that before. But when it falls is something that can be influenced.

I'm glad that you read the mind of George W. Before he was elected. You should have told everyone that he wanted a war. Don't get me wrong, hes a jackass, but its not like the Democratic party had a much better offering. And last I checked, we are still in the war in Iraq, so why is the pres not entitled to the power given to him in a time of war?

The balance of power you seem of speak of is temporary at best. By power I think you must mean things like the Patriot Act and the likes. (if thats not it, start specifying things, its hard to argue when you are making very general statements...) Unfortunately, those were also approved by congress, though they are about to get kicked out the door by congress. (I hope so anyway.) Some of it was also deemed unconstitutional by the courts. The balance cannot always, if ever, be perfect, but the mechanism to equalize itself is in place and that is (in my opinion and the opinion of most people I know, including teachers) what the founding fathers most likely envisioned.

Its cool if you feel bad for me and yourself, but I don't understand why. If others hate me because of my values, that sucks. Its part of human nature I guess. We both have what seems to be inverse views on our countries policies. I'm sure we can both agree on one thing: we cannot change each others opinions. Aryemanhattanforme was right in that there is lots of bad information in this thread, from myself included. (see above.) I consider myself lucky to have participated in this argument because I learned something.

good effort, tattooed_climber, you got most of it right. Of the big clothing companies, Patagonia and Outdoor Research are about the only independents left.

And to illustrate the point, check out http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/...259163_retail11.html, which describes the shift to overseas production, and even includes a quote from Nordstrom himself rationalizing it.

"We're a very technical gear company, so we have to have the very latest of technologies and fabrics," Nordstrom said. "The textile industry in the U.S. is a remnant of what it used to be."