Politics: J'accuse!

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
True, but it implies that they are pulling out of South Korea too (with the statement that SK's army will face NK). It's unclear, but I'd like to know.

I think that's just a reference to facing each other across the DMZ.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
I think that's just a reference to facing each other across the DMZ.

Or, put differently, "it's unclear." Like I said.

Jesus H., Ty, I think we already proved our point with Not Me. We can go back to our normal Chip-n-Dem routine.


("Yes, you're right." "Yes, but you're even more right.")

[SlaveNoMore]

Gattigap
You know they're pissed when they actually contemplate voting for a gun-control candidate.

They'll either stay at home or hold their nose and vote for Bush (I'd say 30/70 at this point).

Voting for Kerry is purely a masturbation fantasy of the author.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
They'll either stay at home or hold their nose and vote for Bush (I'd say 30/70 at this point).

Voting for Kerry is purely a masturbation fantasy of the author.

Based on my experiences with members of the NRA, I doubt very much that they play even a walk-on role in anyone's masturbation fantasies.

[Say_hello_for_me]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
True, but it implies that they are pulling out of South Korea too (with the statement that SK's army will face NK). It's unclear, but I'd like to know.


Personally, when the South Koreans were protesting US military presence with particular vigor awhile back, I thought the US should have told the SK gov't to hold a referendum on US troop presence, and that the US would comply with the results of a "stay or go" vote. That would have crystallized the issue quite nicely, and shown the US respecting the wishes of its ally's populace. A good "put your money where your mouth is" moment.

Hi Sidd, this was news 8 or so months ago. The troops are almost entirely just getting pulled back from the DMZ operational areas. I haven't heard personal information on this, but I thought I read that it was to move to better training areas way farther south, as some of the friction resulted from deaths of civilians in training areas near the DMZ. The immediate ruckus last year was something about a 40 ton minesweeping tank running over two 10 year old girls or something.

As for a SK referendum, I suspect you'd see a civil war in SK before our friends there (i.e., 90% of the country) would let our not_friends there force us out. Can you imagine feeling more alone in the world than being alone against the NKs on that border?

Thus, we ask for referendums etc., we'd better be prepared to watch SK take its leftists out back to be shot.

On a slightly different note, and speaking of Koreans, did anybody see the Sopranos this week? That guy was a gross distortion of every Korean I know, but he had a point about the Korean work ethic and sense of pride. I love that they collected money from school kids when they needed loans from the IMF a few years ago after the Asian crisis. The sort of thing people there will still talk about in 100 or 200 years.


Hello

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Say_hello_for_me
As for a SK referendum, I suspect you'd see a civil war in SK before our friends there (i.e., 90% of the country) would let our not_friends there force us out. Can you imagine feeling more alone in the world than being alone against the NKs on that border?

Thus, we ask for referendums etc., we'd better be prepared to watch SK take its leftists out back to be shot.

That's sort of the point. Let them decide; I suspect they'd overwhelmingly choose to keep US troops in, and that would provide a perfect retort to complaints in the future.

Either that, or we'd bring 50,000 troops home. Win-win.



As for the Sopranos, it was a caricature, yes, but I agree that the discussion of the Korean (immigrant?) work ethic was interesting. I doubt that that individual's daughter would be a failed physical therapist, though. More likely a doc with a degree from Harvard.*


*I say this not to stereotype, but out of true and deep respect for the accomplishments of Korean families that I've known, where parents work incredibly hard to build low-end service businesses -- laundries, grocery shops, etc -- and children go on to the top college and professional schools.

[SlaveNoMore]

So a group of Florida Democrats are now advocating the assassination of Rummy in the name of John Kerry.

My question is - would Kerry require the permission of Annan, Blix, Chirac and Shroeder before loading the gun?

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
I doubt that that individual's daughter would be a failed physical therapist, though. More likely a doc with a degree from Harvard.*

Or a stripper.*

*I say this not to stereotype, but out of true and deep respect for the accomplishments of beautiful women who choose to work incredibly hard to provide much needed entertainment to average joes out there. Besides, she was hot.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

In bad taste, yes. Moronic, yes. Advocating assassination, no.

eta: If you really thought someone would take this seriously, it would be pretty irresponsible to circulate it like this, no?

[Not Me]

Originally posted by sgtclub
are you english?

No but a few of my ancesters were and I picked it up from my grandparents who used to serve me tea this way as a child. I tried to like coffee but could never acquire a taste for it. Coffee tastes so harsh to me compared to tea.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Another view from England.

• For my own part, whenever I'm speechifying in America, I get asked far more questions about Gertrude Bell and General Allenby than about, oh, Mo Mowlam and Robin Cook. The reason is obvious. When you look at the current hotspots of the Islamist threat — Iraq, the Khyber Pass, Kashmir, the West Bank, Sudan — America is spending a lot of time mopping up the failures of British imperialism — or, to be more charitable, of late-period fag-end fainthearted British imperialism.
  
  * * * * *
  
  After 9/11, I wasted many months urging formal imperialism on the Americans. The hands-off approach — "He may be a sonofabitch but he's our sonofabitch" — gave us the House of Saud and most of our present troubles. Better to kit out the chaps from the Beltway think-tanks in solar topees and ostrich feathers and make American imperialism an administrative reality. It could hardly get a worse press than the informal, cultural imperialism of hamburgers and "Dude, Where's My Car?" that provoked Jean-Pierre Chevènement, the former French defence minister, to claim America was dedicated to "the organised cretinisation of our people". Might as well make the cretinisation more organised, I'd say.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
they answer to no one except the justices, who surely have better things to do than supervise them.

I would think the marshalls are answerable to someone in the executive branch. What federal agency are they a part of?

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
Try not comparing yourself to Pam Anderson.

Whiff.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
So a group of Florida Democrats are now advocating the assassination of Rummy in the name of John Kerry.

My question is - would Kerry require the permission of Annan, Blix, Chirac and Shroeder before loading the gun?

This is stupid and I criticize it.

Hank, who gets to claim the win over NM?

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
Bilmore already stole your thunder on this.

Whiff.