Did anyone listen to Bush's speech last night? It was terrible. His writers must have been on vacation. No inspiring BS lines. Just the same old repeated rhetoric. The lowlight was when he dissed 60 years of diplomacy and said we need to take a new course in spreading "freedom" in the Middle East. Hey George, how about spreading some of that freedom at home instead of taking it away from us?
Posted by Cookie Monster at September 12, 2006 03:32 AMI really don't understand what the big deal is as to more American troops getting killed. The current situation is tenable, if not advantageous, for Republicans. They can constantly refresh the fear button and summon citizens to push back against the godless, craven, pro-islamofascist Democrats. The soldiers dying come from mainly lower class backgrounds, not exactly descended from the type of family writing large checks to the RNC. So, no big revenue loss to party coffers. Also, watch interviews with grief stricken family members of the fallen. Nearly every one will tell the camera Buddy or Mary were doing what they felt was right and necessary, knew the risks and and their family and all of America should be proud of their service. Damn little "I hope that bastard Bush rots in hell for getting my kid killed needlessly" can be heard. No, a few hundred dead kids a year from military families or sketchy backgrounds won't dent Bush's enthusiasm for war, nor the public's tolerance to stomach it. Until there's a draft and doctors and lawyers and elected officials are having junior airdropped into raging firefights you'll not see a change. Of course junior probably still wouldn't suffer, getting moved to the front of the line in a stateside Air National Guard assignment always being a viable option.
Posted by steve duncan at September 12, 2006 04:46 AMAttack Foiled at U.S. Embassy in Damascus
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/attack-foiled-at-us-embassy-in-damascus/20060912051809990003
Posted by Judith at September 12, 2006 05:36 AMAnybody watch Frontline last night: Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero? A fascinating look at individual responses to 9/11 through a spiritual lens. We all heard about Bush saying we got down our knees to pray on 9/11, but he hasn't mentioned how many people have actually turned away from religion after 9/11. I was riveted to the screen, definitely worth watching.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/faith/
Posted by ann at September 12, 2006 05:40 AMTurned away from religion after 9/11? Yes, what God is worth worshipping if He allows criminals to mastermind mass murder for profit? But He created Britney Spears too.
Posted by Mal Feasance at September 12, 2006 05:49 AMMy question is with recruitment continuing to be extremely low, how long can Bush and Herr Rumsfeld keep rotating the same troops in Iraq? If Iran and Syria are on their 'hit list', how do they plan on extending the phony "war on terror" into these two countries with the military personnel we have now?
Posted by Judith at September 12, 2006 05:49 AMAnn, I watched it, and like you, I was riveted to the screen. What an excellent piece of work.
It saddens me for those who believe that God was guilty for the 9/11 tragedy by "allowing it to happen." It is also understandable that people would turn from God and blame him, or question his very existance.
I think I saw the same show, but it seemed to be all about people turning to God and becoming more steadfast in their faith. I didn't see the whole show, but I've seen it before.
Posted by CG at September 12, 2006 06:20 AMJoseph, thanks for the link and excellent post.
"turning tragedy into political opportunity, shamefully marketing his presidency as the only thing standing between the America we love and unthinkable disaster, his party the sole stewards of our very existence. The president has been right all along; there is a threat to our American way of life, our freedom. Now, however, it comes less from the enemy without than it does the enemy within. "They," the president said tonight describing our so-called enemies, represent a "totalitarian ideology that hates freedom, rejects tolerance, and despises all dissent." For a brief second I had a hard time discerning which regime - theirs or ours - he was talking about."
As the article says, another missed opportunity for this pResident to bring us together, although I no longer think that is possible.
Posted by Judith at September 12, 2006 06:29 AMCG, there were mixed viewpoints, so it probably was the same show. I want to find out if it is available for purchase. The part that just blew my mind was the priest who was called "a heretic" by other priests for praying with other faiths at ground zero. Afterall, Catholicism is the only true faith and praying with anyone who isn't Catholic is praying with "the heathen." Who does that sound like?
Posted by Judith at September 12, 2006 06:50 AMKeith Olbermann was at his finest! Nothing else to say or watch after that.
Posted by Seven of Six at September 12, 2006 07:15 AMEugene Robinson (WaPo) has written a very interesting piece on the meaning of ‘homeland’.
Reflecting upon 9/11 and events following that tragedy, I cannot help but feel that not only has 9/11 been shamelessly politicized, taken advantage of if you will, but it has been over-hyped. Yes, it was horrifying, but compared to Dresden, Hiroshima, even Iraq on any given month, it is a drop in the bloody bucket of war.
The US and Canada have been involved in two world wars and several regional wars in the past century, yet North America has remained untouched by the ravages of war. No bombs have dropped, no cities devastated, no neighborhoods simply gone, no endless streams of haggard refugees fleeing the carnage. We have gone to war many times, without having to risk our ‘homeland’. Perhaps that is why 9/11 had such a devastating impact.
I’m certainly not trying to reduce the significance of, or grief over 9/11. I just want to point out that much worse has happened, and continues to happen in other war-torn regions.
Bu$hCo has taken 9/11 and spun it for all it was worth to justify their own ends, but by endlessly hyping and reliving it whenever convenient, have somehow cheapened it. When I think of 9/11 now, I don’t think first of the loss of innocent life, or terrorists, but of what Cheney, Wolfowitz, Feith, Rumsfeld, Perle et al. have shamelessly used 9/11 for. Is this the memory of 9/11 we should have?
Posted by tempus at September 12, 2006 07:34 AMWell said tempus.
Posted by snark at September 12, 2006 07:43 AMThanks, tempus, that was wonderful!
Posted by iamcoyote at September 12, 2006 08:07 AMBravo Tempus.
I had that same thought yesterday. Iraq faces this kind of devastation day in and day out, and at our hands. When I think of 9/11, I think of GWB's intolerant use of the tragedy. How's that for rememberance?
Posted by Judith at September 12, 2006 08:08 AMWhat I cannot fathom is the statement Cheney made on Meet the Press Sunday (and he said it at least twice), talking about the Iraq war, “It was the right thing to do and if we had it to do over again, we’d do exactly the same thing.”
How can that be possible? How can a rational person look at where we are today and possibly arrive at that conclusion? It blows my mind!
"The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men.
Seven of Six, thanks for that link. I remember "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street." Thanks for refreshing my memory of that episode. "The Twilight Zone" broadcast was a riveting and wonderful show. I still miss seeing it.
Posted by Judith at September 12, 2006 08:28 AM“It was the right thing to do and if we had it to do over again, we’d do exactly the same thing.”
Right Fools, he can say it because it was a plan that Wolfowitz drew up a long time ago. It was going to happen. It was just a matter of time and opportunity. So, of course they would do it again.
Posted by Judith at September 12, 2006 08:32 AMRE: Bu$hies Jaw Boning. This part here struck a ral familiar cord:
On this solemn anniversary, we rededicate ourselves to this cause. Our nation has endured trials, and we face a difficult road ahead. Winning this war will require the determined efforts of a unified country, and we must put aside our differences and work together to meet the test that history has given us. We will defeat our enemies. We will protect our people. And we will lead the 21st century into a shining age of human liberty.
By Unified and working together, he means that we must all bend to his will (and especially make sure we maintain the repugnant rubber stamp congress). He is still toning in with the tired old "with us or against us" routine.
I hope his rein of terror is over come November, but I had the same hope 4 years and 2 years ago as well and the American people have surprised me each time by taking his crap hook - line - and sinker.
Posted by 007age at September 12, 2006 08:33 AMCheney views Iraq through a very different lens than sane individuals. As long as the US is nominally dictating regional policy in the Middle East, and he and his friends are making an obscene amount of money from the fiasco, he simply cannot see anything wrong with the situation. 'You're not profiting?', he would say, 'Too bad you.'
Posted by tempus at September 12, 2006 08:34 AMJoseph, I have always wondered what was wrong with two beacons of light (as has been temporarily done) to mark the spot of the towers. The whole area is a grave and should be left as a place in rememberance for those who died. For me, the beacons of light says it all.
Posted by Judith at September 12, 2006 08:43 AMRight Fools;
What do you expect Cheney or Rumsfeld or any of Bush administration people to say about Iraq that we made a big mistake? They will continue to BS and unfortunately Americans are buying it and continue to vote them in the office. Are we turning into a third world country where a party stays in power because the masses are illiterate? I think Americans (mostly from mid-west) are politically illiterate otherwise why would they think the Gay marriage issue is lot more important than the fiasco in Iraq?
Posted by suresh at September 12, 2006 08:48 AMI'm afraid that the next thing I won't be able to understand is how the Repugs retained their control of Congress.
Posted by Right Fools at September 12, 2006 08:52 AMI want to find out if it is available for purchase.
Yes, it's in the online PBS store, I just ordered a copy last night.
Posted by at September 12, 2006 09:11 AMAn attack on the US embasy in Syria, Sound like a reason to attack Iran to me!!!
Posted by goose1 at September 12, 2006 10:06 AMsuresh, I can assure you that we in the middle west are not politically illiterate. There are rightwing wackos and far right fundamentalists everywhere.
Thanks Anon for the info.
Posted by Judith at September 12, 2006 10:06 AMAn attack on the US embasy in Syria, Sound like a reason to attack Iran to me!!!
Goose1, that was the first thing that came to mind. Is the stage being set?
Posted by Judith at September 12, 2006 10:09 AMWe should push the "used car salesmen" image, and one simple slogan, using W's own malapropism, does it:
WON'T BE FOOLED AGAIN!
That's all. The people have been fooled by these liars (and it looks like the value for 'some of the people all of the time' is 35-40%, I've noticed) but we won't be fooled again!
That's it. The buck stops here (not Bush's version, 'The bucks stop here'). No More. Enough! No pasaran!
WE WON'T BE FOOLED AGAIN!
Ed
Ed, I think you have hit upon the best campaign slogan to date. I like that! It sums up six years of fooling this Country into thinking they are everything they are not.
Posted by Judith at September 12, 2006 10:31 AMJudith, GMTA we will have to see what they say on the talk show the next few weeks to see if they use this to set the stage.
Posted by goose1 at September 12, 2006 10:42 AMJudith, Don't know if you get the Sci-Fi channel or not but they do reruns of the Twilight Zone often. I guess it gives our age away though.
Someone on this site did say that they wouldn't be surprised to see bu$h, cheney, rummy and turdblossom turn out to be aliens.
scout maybe?
Seven, I thought we had come to the undeniable conclusion that scout IS an alien, and apparently the same species as Kang and Kodos on the Simpsons...
Posted by tempus at September 12, 2006 11:34 AMYou know lately Chimpy constantly speaks as if this "War on Terror" is the equivalent or even surpasses in importance WWI and WWII. If that is truly what he and this administration and all those Koolaid Neocon followers believe then why the hell is he only putting in 130,000 troops in Iraq for (you know his central front in the WOT)? And why put only 10,000-20,000 troops in Afghanistan? And if the reason is that there aren't enough troops to go around, then why isn't this Administration saying we all need to sacrifice for this War of Civilizations and institute a draft? Or at the very least, why hasn't Bushco personally and publically made the request and asked people/especially his cult members to volunteer and sign up in the military to fight this epic battle ? Why aren't his daughters fighting in this battle if it is truly as important historically as Bushco is stating?
emal, Let's not forget the tax cuts! In a time of war? Puh-leeze!!
Posted by Seven of Six at September 12, 2006 11:48 AMSeven of Six, believe it or not, but I don't have cable. Yep, I'm 65 (but a very young 65) so I remember it well.
Posted by Judith at September 12, 2006 01:00 PMI now have a bumper sticker that reads WE WON'T BE FOOLED AGAIN. Is has been placed next to my Kerry/Edwards sign. Thanks again Ed.
The brilliance of that slogan is it immediately conjures up the Iraq War and lying, which is a big negative.
Posted by Judith at September 12, 2006 04:55 PMIt is late - this thread is dead...but I am so disgusted by this that I needed to post it.
Next there will be Puke events where everyone gets to lynch a liberal. Burn a cross on a Progressive's lawn. And an event for drowning a Dem candidate.
These people are sick and twisted.
Posted by Anjha at September 12, 2006 09:55 PMCivil wars start by the demonization of the "other" in the society.
"Conservatives" have been working for years to paint the (now despised) LIB'RUL as the dangerous other; encouraging violence against the "other" is simply the next step.
Posted by euzoius at September 13, 2006 05:27 AM