...there are two ways to deal with such distractions...one can either address them or ignore them...if you do the latter, you run the risk of seeming to be in agreement with them. Aligning any subject matter with issues that have absolutely no bearing(or at best a tangental one) in that matter, is a tried and true practice; the very definition of smokescreen...

I have found, that most folks defend certain types of behavior because it then allows their attitudes and behaviors to seem to be acceptible. How else would one account for the clamor of defense that went up re: the reprehensible behavior and lying as perpetrated by the obfuscating womanizer who previously sat in the Oval Office..."Well, ifn the persident can do it, then hey, I ain't so bad!" As I have said on this site, over and over, just another lowering of the bar.

That being said, here are my responses to other cited "issues"...

The marriage failure rate is around 50%...now, why might that be?

Folks today want it all and they want it now...We as Americans(and people in general) have become fat, dumb and lazy...few are willing to work for and at things any more...Instant everything...all the while exhibiting lower morality and even less scruples...As soon as things aren't delivered on a silver platter and the bed of roses gets a bit thorny or weedy...poof!...I'm outta' here...or maybe it's that pre-mature "mid-life crisis"...or maybe, well, whatever. I'm hardly saying there are not valid reasons for divorce...but it seems all too easy and convenient...and a step taken with little or no willingness to ride things out.

Part of the problem(at least IMO) is that couples are so eager to jump in the sack, all of the steps of "courtship" are ignored and bypassed...trying to learn as much as one can about the other person involved(and I don't mean simply likes and dislikes) is lost in the "heat"(and I mean that with all of the sub-human inference I can muster) of the moment. When sexual activity is the be-all and end-all of the relationship, it's gotta' sour...thinking, caring, taking that extra step, those things forge the basis of a satisfying and long lived relationship...the physicality should be something special, the cherry on top.

Again, there are too many selfish, easy ways to do things...understanding and hard work produce results that last. Divorce is just another legacy that will be passed down, as that bar sinks lower and lower...and since divorce renders normal marriage obsolete, homosexual "marriage" is OK...thick as pea soup...

Another cloud or two: Kids...same sex vs. hetero...no diff at all is the claim.

That being the case, I suppose all the stats and research is incorrect that claims kids who are exposed to and/or are victims of alchoholism...drug abuse...domestic violence...pedophilia...tend to gravitate to that behavior...I mean, if the do-gooders who managed to get the Three Stooges(or is it "stoogies"?) and similar over-the-top "violent" shows off(or at the very least edited)the tee-vee didn't think that early learning/exposure had something to do with behavior patterns why'd they bother? All this "Mozart For Babies" and interactive/stimulating video stuff must be based on some significant data; there is a whole heck of a lot of it out there. No, no, no, it's all nature, no nurture...yeah, sure it is...

As an alchoholic who happens to be married to the same woman for going on thirty-five years, I do have some level of personal experience in these matters...

jimHJJ(...just some real-life observations...)