So it encourages commenters not to make a bunch of generally pointless comments, lest they not be rated... I'm down with that. But what if there happens to be some "rating apathy"; what if people just don't rate (or don't know they're supposed to)?

No problem, it looks like you guys have done a great job with this. I just noticed the reputation meter; very nice idea. Just wondering... how do you get or lose reputation points?

Hmm, well my first comment was based on my just reading the quote above. After that, I actually went and read the entire speech, which I advise everyone to do, because this quote is a pretty terrible representation of the overall message conveyed. In fact, I'll go so far as to say the media should be embarrassed for giving only this section of the speech so much coverage; I don't normally like to plug myself, but I just wrote a post on this topic at my site: http://mangoicecream.wordpress.com/2007/08/03/wha...

I must admit, this is pretty awesome. I love the thread system especially.

Haha, post-Iraq (if we've even actually arrived at that state), this is a dangerous dangerous comment to make. However, the "actionable intelligence" comment he makes will surely refer to far more thoroughly scrutinized evidence if a situation with Pakistan does indeed arise. If there's one real positive we can take from the Iraq situation, it's that future administrations won't be able to get away with pushing their own agendas through fronts like "wars on terrors."

All in all, I see this more as Obama appealing to that portion of America which wanted to see a strong American reaction, post 9/11. Those familiar with his work (or those who've read his book) know that he pushed pretty firmly for multilateral action regarding Iraq, and it's doubtful he'd press in another country on different terms. And, heh, nice title.