Politics: Where we struggle to kneel in the muck.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by bilmore
I'm guessing Slave didn't react to the technical holding that some kid should be afforded some certain level of protection, but to the idea that some small kid, having braved the seas and escaped the killing fields of Fidel, should get to stay in this country, because this is the country that you wish all such kids could have the opportunity to come to.

No kidding, Dick Tracy. We have laws to protect people because sometimes we have leaders whose judgment we agree with, and sometimes we don't. Seeing Elian sent back to Cuba might give one sympathy for the idea that the President shouldn't have unbridled discretion to decide who stays on that island.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
No kidding, Dick Tracy.

We agreed that this was uncivil.

[sgtclub]

This blog makes the case:

http://www.belgraviadispatch.com/archives/001570.html

[bilmore]

Originally posted by sgtclub
This blog makes the case:

http://www.belgraviadispatch.com/archives/001570.html

Hey hey hey
No DNA?
Won't go away.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore


A kindler, gentler Administration (i.e., no panties on head)

sniff, I miss Penske.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by bilmore
We agreed that this was uncivil.

Oops, that's right. On the other hand, you aren't supposed to be wearing an ear piece so club can tell you what to say.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Oops, that's right. On the other hand, you aren't supposed to be wearing an ear piece so club can tell you what to say.

It's going to be mighty quiet around here again, then.

(ETA: Upon reflection, a better answer might have been -

Is Taxwonk gone? Can I take the vest off now?)

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by bilmore
It's going to be mighty quiet around here again, then.

(ETA: Upon reflection, a better answer might have been -

Is Taxwonk gone? Can I take the vest off now?)

I'm still grooving on the fact that our podiums (podia) will be the same height. All the better to take advantage of my height, and -- added bonus -- no one will be able to see my shorts.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
I'm still grooving on the fact that our podiums (podia) will be the same height. All the better to take advantage of my height, and -- added bonus -- no one will be able to see my shorts.

speaking of dweeby freaks from a bygone era.....Anyone catch the Peace Prize Winner, Jimmy C. the other day. Apparently, he felt the British were wrong to go to war back in the day also, but he does seem to imply our independance might be illegitimate because it wasn't doen peacefully.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6281085/

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you Chris, good to be with you and your folks.

MATTHEWS: Let me ask you the question about—this is going to cause some trouble with people—but as an historian now and studying the Revolutionary War as it was fought out in the South in those last years of the War, insurgency against a powerful British force, do you see any parallels between the fighting that we did on our side and the fighting that is going on in Iraq today?

CARTER: Well, one parallel is that the Revolutionary War, more than any other war up until recently, has been the most bloody war we‘ve fought. I think another parallel is that in some ways the Revolutionary War could have been avoided. It was an unnecessary war.

Had the British Parliament been a little more sensitive to the colonial‘s really legitimate complaints and requests the war could have been avoided completely, and of course now we would have been a free country now as is Canada and India and Australia, having gotten our independence in a nonviolent way.

I think in many ways the British were very misled in going to war against America and in trying to enforce their will on people who were quite different from them at the time.

[Hank Chinaski]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/19/opinion/19franks.html

General Franks takes my side on the Tora Bora issue. Does this mean I win?

First, take Mr. Kerry's contention that we "had an opportunity to capture or kill Osama bin Laden" and that "we had him surrounded." We don't know to this day whether Mr. bin Laden was at Tora Bora in December 2001. Some intelligence sources said he was; others indicated he was in Pakistan at the time; still others suggested he was in Kashmir. Tora Bora was teeming with Taliban and Qaeda operatives, many of whom were killed or captured, but Mr. bin Laden was never within our grasp.

Second, we did not "outsource" military action. We did rely heavily on Afghans because they knew Tora Bora, a mountainous, geographically difficult region on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is where Afghan mujahedeen holed up for years, keeping alive their resistance to the Soviet Union. Killing and capturing Taliban and Qaeda fighters was best done by the Afghan fighters who already knew the caves and tunnels.

Third, the Afghans weren't left to do the job alone. Special forces from the United States and several other countries were there, providing tactical leadership and calling in air strikes. Pakistani troops also provided significant help - as many as 100,000 sealed the border and rounded up hundreds of Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/19/opinion/19franks.html

General Franks takes my side on the Tora Bora issue. Does this mean I win?

Cheney et al. lied when they said we had OBL surrounded at Tora Bora?

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
Cheney et al. lied when they said we had OBL surrounded at Tora Bora?

Often after smart dinner parties, Picasso would have Guernica wheeled out for his guests to enjoy.

At one such party, in 1946, amongst the guests was former Prime Minister Churchill. He was questioned as to whether the painting's shifting images and cubist structure set forth the truth about war. Churchill took a long draw on his cigar, and wandered along the length of the work......

Finally...."Sir, I can discern nothing in this painting other than bits of images that I may perceive hold some meaning. That is to say there is nothing set forth clearly by the painting, no truths at all that I perceive, and as such, I suppose it is an accurate statement of the truth about war. Yes I think so."

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Today, Vice President Cheney: Kerry isn't "tough and aggressive" enough to stop terrorists from exploding a nuclear weapon in an American city.

You know, I'm happy if he just keeps doing this. My suspicion is that the Ds gain half a percent in Iowa, Florida, and Pennsylvania every time he does.

It may get him a few votes in Colorado and Arizona (the places his debate performance seemed to play), but if that's what the Rs are playing for, this thing is going the right way.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Zogby has released a round of battleground polls (these have been being done daily, but are only available to subscribers).

The latest show Bush having a slight lead in Ohio and Florida, but very vulnerable in the border states and North Carolina (within the margin of error in VA, NC, TN, and WV).

This would explain why they're letting Cheney out. They need him to do his thing for Virginia and North Carolina, but hopefully without losing Florida or Ohio in the process.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Um, I was there one day when Norm Seigel readily admitted that the ACLU will willingly refrain from protecting (what it deems) right-wing speech.

So, fuck you, I think not.

Hard to judge based on one anecdote, so I'll just go with their track-record which is, overall, hard-line 1st Amendment and individual rights. Consider the Skokie, Illinois cases from the 1970's (Are Nazis "right-wing" enough for you?) as well as their recent support of Mr. "Rush" Limbaugh's battle over the discovery of his medical records.

I don't think this has changed. If it has, Mr. Siegel and the organization are wrong.

S_A_M

P.S. I understand your bitterness, but losing your self in mind-blowing casual sex is not the answer.