Thursday, April 29, 2004Flight of IdeasSpainish Government Raises White Flag To the Spanish Troops Who Are Returning Home: Thank you for your service. I am sure that during the time you were deployed, you served well and honorably and you should be proud of that. There is no shame for you in the withdrawal that is currently taking place. There is only shame for the politicians who have chosen to fly a white flag of surrender and grant terrorists a small victory. May they rot in hell! But hey, what do you expect from a bunch of socialists? CBS/New York Times Poll A new poll put out by CBS and the New York Times has dramatically different conclusions from last week’s polls from somewhat credible sources. It shows John Kerry after two weeks of contortions ahead of the President and that Americans are losing support for the War on Terrorism. That’s funny; I just spent a week listening to every pundit on the talk shows across the political spectrum expressing their opinions on why after a month of comparatively high casualties in Iraq the President’s numbers were on the rise and John Kerry’s declining. Is it possible that these two pillars of unbiased journalism have an agenda? I can’t think of two less credible sources to team up together. If they concluded that the sky was blue, I would have to go outside and check myself before I would take their word for it. Speaking of CBS, they are going to air a show that focuses on a few soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners. There are six soldiers awaiting court martial and the show is based on them. Can’t wait till Al-Jazeera picks up this one and flashes it all over the America hating world of the Middle East. This may be CBS’s best contribution to the antiwar effort yet! ABC’s Contribution to the War Effort Not to be outdone by CBS, ABC will air The Fallen. For thirty minutes, Ted Koppel will read the names of our soldiers and show their pictures as a tribute to them. I love this quote “The program's team had considered airing the special in conjunction with Memorial Day but opted to run it a month earlier. "Memorial Day might have been the most logical occasion on which to do this program, but we felt that the impact would actually be greater on a day when the entire nation is not focused on its war dead," Koppel said. (Nellie Andreeva)" Yes, they are right. The impact would be greater on a day when we aren’t focused on our war dead. On Memorial Day, numbers like 55,000+ for Vietnam and 300,000+ for WWII casualties come to mind. That might put some perspective on the 500+ deaths in Iraq. Now we wouldn’t want that, would we? (If the quote sounds unintelligible to you, I apologize. It is copied straight off this website.) A little more perspective. 4/27/04 marks the 60th anniversary of a D Day training exercise that killed more soldiers in one night then the Iraq War has in a year. The Second Time Around Hillary pulls a Britney Spears “Oops, I did it again.” It was bad enough when Hillary showed up in Iraq and Afghanistan last November and made political points by demoralizing troops with her comments about doubts back home about the decisions that were being made by their Commander in Chief. When she does it a second time, no more excuses. Here's what the Iraqi Minister of the Interior had to say about the first trip. I picked this up on Scarborough Country last night and the transcripts aren't available yet out on MSNBC. The good Senator's office (I use the term "good" loosely here) placed calls to NBC's President yesterday demanding a retraction that she had spoken to an Arab newspaper giving comfort to the enemy. Scarborough said her office denied the interview even took place to begin with at 9 am and by 4 pm had a whole different spin on it. Here's the link to the original article I read about her most recent interview. The bottom line here is that Hillary is no idiot. She may be cold and calculating, but she is not an idiot. Once again, a US Senator has put politics ahead of the safety of our troops. Sedition at the very least. I realize that this is an election year and that the opposing party has to distinguish themselves from the incumbent party to compete. My request is that you use an ounce of common sense and decency when you do it and not give comfort to the enemy during a war. How about something along these lines? "Our military has done a phenomenal job and continues to do so today and everyday. We are winning this war and we can accelerate that victory by doing it faster, better, and cheaper with my plan.” The caveat here is that you must have a plan to do it faster, better, and cheaper that you can sell to the American voter. If your arsenal is empty on this point, SHUT THE HELL UP! All of our safety depends on it. posted @ 03:05 AM MST [link] [Karma: -2 (+/-)] Tuesday, April 27, 2004Taking Chance HomeI read this sad but beautiful story this morning and there is nothing more I can say. posted @ 03:06 AM MST [link] Monday, April 26, 2004News FlashesMarch on Washington An over-estimated 500,000 to 800,000 women with nothing better to do, marched on the Washington Mall yesterday to fight a battle they won thirty years ago and are in no real danger of losing any ground. (There isn’t a politician with enough guts to take on this issue in the near future that could pose a threat.) Unable to find a worthy, current cause to channel their misplaced energies, the paranoids poured onto the mall to listen to endless reruns of speeches that have grown old and tired, and discuss the latest episode of Survivor, Oprah, Dr. Phil, and why the chosen Apprentice wasn’t a woman. The conclusion being that Donald Trump is sexist. Next march to be organized will be on Trump Tower. ABC’s Noose I’ve heard rumblings that a bait and switch operation has been fulminating in the Democratic Party headquarters but didn’t give it much credence. Today, ABC has started putting the knives in John Kerry’s back. If CBS runs this story, we'll know he is being burned at the stake to allow Hillary to rise up out of his ashes at the convention. Hillary's highest poll numbers occur when she stays out of the limelight and keeps her foot out of her mouth. I don't think she could really survive the scrutiny of a full campaign season but a short four month one she would probably do pretty well. Heads up hardworking Americans. We need to have a pre-emptive strike on this one. Let the games begin! On the Fringes Kerry takes Communion at a church known for reaching out to "marginalized" Catholics despite a strong stance from the Vatican. Somehow it seems to fit a man with marginalized politics and character that his spirituality is also out there. That may be the only consistency in him. If I were his PR person, I would be slitting my wrists now. The "in your face attitude" will not sit well for the large voting block of Catholics who take their religion very seriously. Democrats for Bush I was researching Zell Miller's endorsement of President Bush to see how it was progressing and my Google search returned this blog. Check it out. More on Kerry's Lacking Character An Arizona blogger, John Moore, has been doing a lot of research on John F'ing Kerry and has some interesting information you just don't find being questioned in the main stream press. It's Important to Maintain a Sense of Humor My favorite Iraqi bloggers have posted criteria for an interim President. I'm glad to see that they are still maintaining a sense of humor with all that is going on there. If they can, I can. Scroll down to the April 25, 2004 entry. I'm signing off to keep the creditors happy now. posted @ 05:29 AM MST [link] Saturday, April 24, 2004When Good Men DieIt was a beautiful and sunny morning yesterday while I drove to work. The temperature was in the mid 60’s and the start of the weekend was just eight hours away. I was thinking about what I wanted to do with this treasured leisure time that I live for each week, when the news that Pat Tillman had been killed in Afghanistan came over the wires. Suddenly, I felt very sad, very selfish, and very, very small. I recalled the first time I had ever heard of Pat Tillman. Not being a sports fan, I was baffled when my husband said incredulously one day “Did you hear that Pat Tillman quit today and is joining the Army Rangers?” I responded with my usual question regarding any famous athlete or actor “Who?” “Pat Tillman.” “Who’s that?” “You know who Pat Tillman is. He’s the (some football position like strong safety-hmmm, is there a weak one?) for the Arizona Cardinals…” My loving husband then went on to educate me in the academic and career highlights of this professional athlete. His patient recant took me from a mindset of “Oh, some inarticulate Neanderthal with an overactive thyroid…” to “Wow, what a guy.” That conversation took place in May of 2002. Our eerie conversation occurred just last weekend upon hearing about our casualties on the nightly news I said to my husband “I wonder how what’s his name is doing with the Rangers.” “Get out of my head, I was just thinking about him myself.” I didn’t know Pat Tillman but I will never forget him and neither should you. Today the media pays tribute to him and interspersed with these accolades are comments from people reminding us that he is just one of many who have made the ultimate sacrifice and they all deserve our thanks equally. Yes they do, it goes without saying. And when you make a point of saying it, it is as if there is a belief that by celebrating this one man’s life, we are diminishing the value of the life of others. Poppycock. Probably the most unique thing about the Pat Tillman story is that he didn’t believe he was unique. He didn’t think he was doing anything different than every other person in the military. He might have been right. But he was certainly unique when compared to the rest of us. If you lined us all up and told us here are your two choices. Choice #1-You can have fame, fortune, live the good life and have all your dreams come true. Or Choice #2-You can work your butt off in Special Forces training, live in fox hole and be eaten alive by sand fleas, eat MRE’s, experience all the atrocities of war, and maybe loose your life but it will be for a good cause. Which one would you choose? Most of us don’t answer that call to a higher purpose. We shield ourselves from it in our own little cocoon because we lack the sheer guts and integrity to do so. We are amazed when we see someone who does and we see ourselves for what we really are. We need role models like Pat Tillman. We need to get out of bed everyday with a goal that doesn’t just benefit ourselves. We need to hang tough in the face of adversity. We need to quit bitching about trivialities and minor inconveniences that consume us on a daily basis and find a purpose in this world. We need to answer that higher calling. Now. PS-Memo to God The pit in my stomach today and grief for all the someones I didn’t know is duly noted as my wake up call. But when good men die and schmucks live on, I am blinded by a sense of injustice. If you need a list of schmucks to fulfill today’s death quota, please let me know. Somehow, a bullet in Osama bin “F***head’s brain seems to right this injustice. How about one for all the Gippers? Soon. posted @ 06:42 AM MST [link] Sunday, April 18, 2004Spring FeverI apologize (half-heartedly) that I have been uninspired lately to write very often or very much. I am suffering a horrible bout of spring fever. We are in our last few weeks of open windows with no air-conditioner running, and all the trees, cactus, and flowers are in full bloom for those of us here in sunny Arizona. The idea of doing any type of work in unthinkable to me right now. I just want to savor the next few weeks before our hibernation period begins. We follow an opposite schedule than most places. Our spring is the equivalent of your fall and our behaviors reflect that. The growing season is ending and it’s time to prepare for hibernation to protect us against the elements. Soon it will be too hot for potted, flowering plants on the patio to survive and the pots will sit empty until our fall. Soon the hum of a couple of million air conditioners running around the clock will drowned out any joyous sound of nature. The cool morning air with it’s perfect, slight breezes will give way to the outflow of a blast furnace across your face. Faced with five or six months of temperatures over 100 degrees looming, hibernation is the only method of survival. Our version of hibernation is to slip into the pool with a glass of wine every evening and soak away the day’s stresses. But the pool is only at 74 degrees right now; and that is much too cold for any self-respecting Phoenician to take a dip in. We consider a minimum swimming temperature to be 80 degrees. I personally most enjoy the pool once it has reached the 88-90 degree mark. Amazingly, 90-degree water feels quite refreshing when the mercury is in the 100 and teens. So please forgive me for not writing much until hibernation begins. I will be busy preparing for it. Filling the wine rack, stocking up on chlorine, finding a suitable bathing suit for this year….I know, life is tough. posted @ 04:11 AM MST [link] Saturday, April 17, 2004President’s Press ConferenceYou have to give the President an A+ for being able to stay on message. And I have to give the media an F for their ridiculous questions. From the transcript: Q Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, April is turning into the deadliest month in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad, and some people are comparing Iraq to Vietnam and talking about a quagmire. Polls show that support for your policy is declining and that fewer than half Americans now support it. What does that say to you and how do you answer the Vietnam comparison? THE PRESIDENT: I think the analogy is false. … Answer I wish he had given-Some people are talking about a quagmire and Vietnam? Don’t you mean you, the media? Don’t you mean the same media that a few days into the War in Afghanistan three years ago and the War last year in Iraq were saying the same thing using the same analogies? How many times do you people need to be proven wrong before you finally wise up? No this isn’t a quagmire and no this isn’t Vietnam, get it? Q Thank you, Mr. President. What's your best prediction on how long U.S. troops will have to be in Iraq? And it sounds like you will have to add some troops; is that a fair assessment? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I -- first of all, … Answer I wish he had given-“Carnack says ..” Q Mr. President, before the war, you and members of your administration made several claims about Iraq that U.S. troops would be greeted as liberators with sweets and flowers, that Iraqi oil revenue would pay for most of the reconstruction; and that Iraq not only had weapons of mass destruction, but as Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said, we know where they are. How do you explain to Americans how you got that so wrong? And how do you answer your opponents, who say that you took this nation to war on the basis of what have turned out to be a series a false premises? THE PRESIDENT: Well, let me step back and review my thinking prior to going into Iraq… Answer I wish he had given-“Better safe than sorry where the American people are concerned and to my opponents…false premises? You mean the same premises the entire world believed including my finger in the wind opponents?” Q Thank you, Mr. President. To move to the 9/11 Commission. You, yourself, have acknowledged that Osama bin Laden was not a central focus of the administration in the months before September 11th. "I was not on point," you told the journalist, Bob Woodward, "I didn't feel that sense of urgency." Two-and-a-half years later, do you feel any sense of personal responsibility for September 11th? THE PRESIDENT: Let me put that quote to Woodward in context… Answer I wish he had given-Osama bin Laden has personal responsibility for 9/11. I know it’s hard for you yellow-bellied liberals to accept accountability for anything or see beyond your partisan blinders but do I look like Osama to you that I should accept responsibility? Q Mr. President, I'd like to follow up on a couple of these questions that have been asked. One of the biggest criticisms of you is that whether it's WMD in Iraq, postwar planning in Iraq, or even the question of whether this administration did enough to ward off 9/11, you never admit a mistake. Is that a fair criticism? And do you believe there were any errors in judgment that you made related to any of those topics I brought up? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think, as I mentioned,… Answer I wish he had given-“: Well, I think, as I mentioned, the feeding frenzy that takes place daily in the media precludes anyone with an ounce of sense from ever saying anything of substance at any time.” Q Thank you, Mr. President. Two weeks ago, a former counterterrorism official at the NSC, Richard Clarke, offered an unequivocal apology to the American people for failing them prior to 9/11. Do you believe the American people deserve a similar apology from you, and would you be prepared to give them one? THE PRESIDENT: Look, I can understand… Answer I wish he had given-“Look, I can understand when you are a disgruntled ex-employee with a book to sell that you will try any means of drawing attention to your pathetic self….” Q Thank you, Mr. President. Sir, you've made it very clear tonight that you're committed to continuing the mission in Iraq. Yet, as Terry pointed out, increasing numbers of Americans have qualms about it. And this is an election year. Will it have been worth it, even if you lose your job because of it? THE PRESIDENT: I don't plan on losing my job… Answer I wish he had given-“I don't plan on losing my job because I think that having principals should be a requirement for this job. That disenfranchises the majority of the opposing party but some things are worth standing up for.” Another episode of Eat the Press would have been much more fun. posted @ 05:28 AM MST [link] Monday, April 12, 2004Treason?Muqdata al-Sadr was quoted this week parroting Senator Kennedy’s “George Bush’s Vietnam” analogy. That should tell everyone that, yes, these people do listen to our news and dispel any doubt that during a time of war; we must be careful of what we say. Especially, if you are in a perceived position of power. With his statement, Senator Kennedy demoralizes our troops and gives encouragement to the enemy. It is politically savvy and its treasonous behavior in a time of war. Oh I know, here comes the Freedom of Speech crowd and “America is turning into a police state under John Ashcroft”….blah, blah, blah. Yes, we hear your objections, duly noted, and discounted. In case you haven’t noticed, Freedom of Speech does have its limitations. You are not free to say anything and everything that you may feel like saying without consequence. If you don’t believe that, test it by openly calling for the assassination of a political figure in this country and see how quickly you are in the custody of the nearest FBI agent. Another example is a little thing called “slander” that the law allows punitive damages for in exchange for the over-the-top exercising of your freedom of speech. Every right granted to us comes with a price tag called responsibility. It’s bad enough when the average hardworking American acts irresponsibly in public but when an elected “leader” and in Senator Kennedy’s case I use the term leader loosely, it is unconscionable. At worst, the War in Iraq will be President Bush’s Chappaquiddick. Teddy should become the poster boy for the proponents of term limits. With each year he has spent in “public” service he has become more bloated, bloviated, and bellicose in his partisan attacks. None of which is doing this country any "service" at a time of war. posted @ 05:37 AM MST [link] Friday, April 9, 2004If I ever grow up, I want to be just like Dr. Condoleezza Rice.I’ve heard they call her the “Warrior Princess” in the Bush Administration; an endearing term that expresses the range of this woman’s extra-ordinary, plethora of talents. Armed with her intellect and cogent arguments, she stood her ground against the partisan attacks of Bob Kerrey and Richard Ben-Veniste launched against her and the Administration. Armed with her grace and charm, the princess refused to lower herself into the gutter with them. She would not be intimidated, she would not respond to the rudeness she had been shown, she would not be duped into providing a sound bite by giving an incomplete response to a question, and despite the hours of grilling her she refused to let them wear her down. I have been so impressed during the last three years that she has been in the spotlight that I was disappointed that she isn’t on the ticket as the veep with the President this year. Don’t get me wrong; I like Dick Cheney, a lot. But in 2008, the ticket will be up against Hillary. If we are going to elect the first woman to the Presidency in 2008, I would like to see the battle square off between Hillary and Condi and an incumbent veep trumps a senator. It would be nice to be able to be proud of the first woman President. It would also be nice to not have to worry that the national treasures are going out the back door of the White House again. Meeooow. There were some highlight moments in the reality TV show the media. From the transcript: Highlight # 1 BEN-VENISTE. Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice, that the Aug. 6 P.D.B. warned against possible attacks in this country? And I ask you whether you recall the title of that P.D.B. RICE. I believe the title was Bin Laden Determined To Attack Inside the United States. Now, the P.D.B. - BEN-VENISTE. Thank you. RICE. No, Mr. Ben-Veniste - BEN-VENISTE. I will get into the - RICE. I would like to finish my point here. BEN-VENISTE. I didn't know there was a point. RICE. Given that - you asked me whether or not it warned of attacks. BEN-VENISTE. I asked you what the title was. RICE. You said did it not warn of attacks. It did not warn of attacks inside the United States. It was historical information based on old reporting. There was no new threat information. And it did not, in fact, warn of any coming attacks inside the United States. Score 1 point in favor of Condi here. Mr. Ben-Veniste asks two questions and insists he only asked one. Apparently, he can’t keep track of his own questions but she can. Extra, Extra Credit to Condi for cool, calm response to “I DIDN”T KNOW THERE WAS A POINT.” Leslie’s answer: “Just because you can’t keep up, you condescending, little bastard, doesn’t mean I can’t. If need be I’m sure we can get the media to rewind the tape for a count of how many questions your deranged little mind has just fired off. Highlight # 2 …… KERREY. Well, I think it's an unfortunate figure of speech. Because I think especially after the attack on the Cole on the 12th of October 2000 it would not have been swatting a fly. It would not have been - we did not need to wait to get a strategic plan. Dick Clarke had in his memo on the 25th of January overt military operations. He turned that memo around in 24 hours, Dr. Clarke.(as spoken) There were a lot of plans in place in the Clinton administration, military plans in the Clinton administration. In fact, just since we're in the mood to declassify stuff, he included in his Jan. 25 memo two appendixes. Appendix A, strategy for the elimination of the jihadis threat of Al Qaeda. Appendix B, political military plan for Al Qaeda. So I just, why didn't we respond to the Cole? Why didn't we swat that fly? RICE. I believe that there is a question of whether or not you respond in a tactical sense or whether you respond in a strategic sense. Whether or not you decide that you're going to respond to every attack with minimal use of military force. And go after - on a kind of tit for tat basis. By the way, in that memo Dick Clarke talks about not doing this tit for tat, doing this on a time of our choosing. I'm aware, Mr. Kerrey, of a speech that you gave at that time that said that perhaps the best thing that we could do to respond to the Cole and to the memories was to do something about the threat of Saddam Hussein. That's a strategic view. And we took a strategic view. We didn't take a tactical view. I mean it was really, quite frankly, I was blown away when I read the speech. Because it's a brilliant speech. It talks about really an asymmetric approach. KERREY. I presume you read it in the last few days. RICE. Oh, no. I read it quite a bit before that. It's an asymmetric approach. Now you can decide that every time Al Qaeda does something - KERREY. You're saying that you didn't have a military response against the Cole because of my speech? RICE. I'm saying, I'm saying, no - KERREY. That had I not given that speech you would have attacked them? RICE. No, I'm just saying that I think it was a brilliant way to think about it. It was a way of thinking about it strategically not tactically. But if I may answer the question that you've asked me. The issue of whether to respond, how to respond to the Cole I think Don Rumsfeld has also talked about this, yes, the Cole had happened. We received I think on Jan. 25 the same assessment or roughly the same assessment of who was responsible for the Cole that Sandy Berger talked to you about. It was preliminary. It was not clear. But that was not the reason that we felt that we did not want to quote respond to the Cole. We knew that the options that had been employed by the Clinton administration had been standoff options. The president had - meaning missile strikes or perhaps bombers would have been possible, long-range bombers although getting in place the apparatus to use long-range bombers is even a matter of whether you have basing in the region. We knew that Osama bin Laden had been in something that was provided to me bragging that he was going to withstand any response and then he was going to emerge and come out stronger. KERREY. You're figuring this out. You've got to give a very long answer. RICE. We simply believed that the best approach was to put in place a plan that was going to eliminate this threat not respond to it tit for tat. KERREY. Dr. Clarke, look, let me say I think you could have come in here if you said look we screwed up. We made a lot of mistakes. And you obviously don't want to use the `m' word in here. And I would say, fine. It's game, set and match. I understand that. But this strategic and tactical, it sounds like something for a seminar. RICE. I just don't believe - KERREY. It doesn't - RICE. I do not believe to this day that it would have been a good thing to respond to the Cole given the kinds of options that we were going to have. And with all due respect to Dick Clarke, if you're speaking about the Delinda plan, my understanding is it was A, never adopted and that Dick Clarke himself has said that the military portion of this was not taken up by the Clinton administration so - KERREY. Let me move into another area, Dr. - RICE. - so we were not presented, I just want to be very clear on this because it's been a source of controversy. We were not presented with a plan. KERREY. That's not true. RICE. We were not - KERREY. It is not - RICE. We were not presented - we were presented with the - KERREY. I've heard you say that, Dr. Clarke. If that 25 Jan. 2001 memo was declassified I don't believe - RICE. That Jan. 25 memo - KERREY. I don't - RICE. That Jan. 25 memo has a series of actionable items having to do with Uzbekistan, Northern Alliance - KERREY. Let me move to another area. RICE. May I finish answering your question though because this is an important point. KERREY. I know it's important. Everything that's going on here is important but I've got 10 minutes. RICE. But since we have a point of disagreement I'd like to have a chance to address it. KERREY. Actually, we have many points of disagreement, Dr. Clarke. We'll have a chance to do in closed session. You can't - please don't filibuster me. It's not fair. It is not fair. I have been polite. I have been courteous. It is not fair to me. I understand that we have a disagreement. RICE. Commissioner, commissioner, I am here to answer questions. And you've asked me a question. KERREY. No, it - RICE. And I'd like to have an opportunity to answer it. The fact is that what we were presented on January the 25th was a set of ideas - KERREY. O.K. RICE. - and a paper, most of which was about what the Clinton administration had done and something called the Delinda plan, which had been considered in 1998 and never adopted. We decided to take a different track. We decided to put together a strategic approach to this that would get the regional powers - the problem wasn't that you didn't have a good counterterrorism person. The problem was you didn't have a approach against Al Qaeda because you didn't have an approach against Afghanistan. And you didn't have an approach against Afghanistan because you didn't have an approach against Pakistan. And until we could get that right you didn't have a policy. KERREY. Thank you for answering my question. RICE. You're welcome. …….. KERREY. Dr. Clarke, Dr. Clarke - RICE. Now, you've said. KERREY. Dr. Clarke, and in the spirit of further declassification - RICE. Sir, with all - I don't think I look like Dick Clarke. KERREY. Dr. Rice, excuse me. RICE. Thank you. 3 pointer scored in this little section. After taking some of his allotted time at the opening to bless the country with his personal views of what is currently happening in Iraq, he then accuses her of filibustering her answers and chewing up his time. Another point is awarded for gracefully not embarrassing the jackass because he couldn’t get her name right. And one more point for throwing his own speech back into his face. Extra, Extra Credit for not ripping his throat out when he called her a liar with: KERREY. That's not true. and for pointing out the entire reason for her being there and not jumping on his response RICE. Commissioner, commissioner, I am here to answer questions. And you've asked me a question. KERREY. No, it – Leslie’s response: “No it” what? You little partisan has been, I am not here to answer questions? I am just here for you to lob your sound bites at without response required? You’ve been polite to me. You called me a liar. You keep calling me Dick Clarke. Isn’t that Freudian? Liar and Dick Clarke. Word Association test going on in your pee brain? I’m sorry if you think I’m wasting your valuable time, I got the impression from the beginning that your sharing your personal opinions on current events that you didn’t value your time much that has been allotted to delve into the past. Cut to the chase here. You and the rest of the has beens up there, have a political agenda that is despicable considering the subject matter and not worth my time. But since I’m here, I thought I would play your little game just for my own amusement because quite frankly your daily talking points just don’t hold up to any scrutiny. And by the way, we didn’t respond to the Cole incident because it didn’t happen on our watch. Perhaps, besides confusing me with some, white guy, you also have us confused with the Clinton Administration? Rest easier tonight, hardworking Americans. Dr. Condoleezza Rice is the National Security Advisor and I am not. Point, set, match in favor of Condi. posted @ 06:48 AM MST [link] Saturday, April 3, 2004Weekend WheedlingWhere are the outraged civil rights groups? A white, angry male has verbally attacked a black woman and the NAACP and NOW are nowhere to be found. Where’s Jesse and Al? Richard Clarke said Dr. Condolezza Rice looked like she didn’t even know who Al Qaeda was. That’s his interpretation of her body language. She didn’t say anything along those lines to him, just his interpretation of the look on her face. We know now that Mr. Clarke could use a remedial body language course because a year prior to this conversation, Dr. Rice had addressed the Al Qaeda issue thoroughly in a speech which makes this silence worse. A condescending white guy publicly trashes a black woman and is proven wrong and not a word out of groups that have built their coffers on defeating racism, sexism, and ending stereotypes. I guess if you’re a card carrying conservative, you don’t fall under their umbrella of protection. Not that Condi can’t take care of herself but the pretense of these organizations applying their principles across the board would have been a refreshing change. Too much testosterone? Fallujah conjures up images in my mind of a society overflowing testosterone with no estrogen counter balance. At the risk of offending NOW, there are differences between men and women and “that’s a good thing.” Huh, Martha? (Sorry, the bitch kitty came out in me.) While we have torn down a lot of barriers created by stereotypes in our society and we can find exceptions to every rule; there still remains a basic difference between the sexes. There is not a woman reading this right now who can’t instantly cite an example of husband overrun with testosterone that wasn’t gently quashed with an application of estrogen common sense and it probably was related to road rage. A stupid driver did something offensive and the male unit was about to enlighten them about it. Enter woman unit with dose of common sense. Don’t know the psychological makeup of perpetrator of stupid move, don’t know the weapon status of said perp, on a scale of 1 to 10 this incident is a minus 10 over the long haul…Don’t do it, honey…don’t give that long, glaring look…don’t say a word…don’t use any gestures…at least not while I am in the car. Should you decide to get yourself killed in a road rage incident is one thing but not while the kids and I are with you! Please! (Appealing to the male protector genome.) And he doesn’t. Not because he was threatened or pussy whipped but because common sense and rational thought triumphed over machismo. That’s what is missing in cultures that treat women as chattel and allows men to run wild. Along those lines, where is the Muslim outrage over Falluja? An interesting article that is worth the read. How nice that the desecration of corpses is forbidden, HOW ABOUT MURDER? IS THAT OKAY? I’m sorry but if my religion was being hijacked, I would be shouting it from every rooftop, I would commit civil disobedience to draw attention to it, I would be emailing and calling every news media trying to get the message out, I would be organizing an offense, because I would not want my silence to be interpreted as agreement! WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE? I keep looking for it and I just don’t see it and that may be the most revealing clue we have as to the situation we find ourselves in today. My favorite Iraqi blogger did provide the appropriate outrage in his April 1st and 2nd posts. Unfortunately, he is accepting the mullah's condemning the mutilating of corpses as a true condemnation of this event. It just isn’t good enough from this westerners viewpoint. I have no dog in the fight of organized religion versus organized religion. I am not an atheist but quite frankly the God that lives in my mind and rules my daily action is better than any God that organized religion has come up with. My God has no human frailties. My God is not narcissistic, requiring praise and worship. My God is not vindictive, requiring penance and suffering for atonement. My God is tolerant because it doesn’t make mistakes. My God isn’t human because that means it’s flawed. My God is all the good in mankind and only the good. I have the strangest feeling that Christians are about to understand first hand what Jews have known all along. Hatred for the collective body turned to violence. A religious war against them because of who they are and who they aren't. The reason for the Madrid bombings was to avenge the driving out of the Muslims centuries ago. We will all pay for the sins of "the fathers" in their world. I see a squaring off of religion against religion, and sadly it will be done in the name of their respective Gods. The following is anything but politically correct…….Warning……Faint of heart should not read further. The Middle East was the cradle of civilization in the beginning and now it lags behind. It lives in the 7th century while the rest of the world has progressed. This civilization gave mankind much of the foundation of mathematics and science that has allowed growth and prosperity for the rest of us. What happened during that time period that turned the tables? Islam. If only the resentment was channeled in the right direction. posted @ 03:34 AM MST [link] |
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