I recently had an e-mail discussion with someone who is a contributor to americanthinker.com, which is almost as bad as townhall in its shrillness. I do not have permission to reprint the correspondance so I will just say that she/he indicated that the media, once again, was ignoring the "good news" from Iraq.
She indicated that she supports the troops but is against a draft, that the establishment of Israel was a "consolation gift" for the Holocaust and that the problem today is due to the simple fact that other Arab nations are somehow responsible for taking in the displaced Palestinians.
Among my responses:
I am not sure that my young nephew, who is a U.S. Marine, would have learned in school that the U.S. was once a supporter of Sadaam Hussein as well as other dictators and even terrorists, when it suited us. He certainly is not old enough to have done anything to contribute to the situation and I find it appalling that the people who did, will not acknowledge it.
Of course, I have no problem with my loved ones - I am also to be married to a Missouri National Guardsman who has served in Iraq - fulfilling their duty. I find the Republicans fervent opposition to a draft to be no different than the war protesters, both past and present, except that the war protesters don't want anyone to go while you people just don't want you to go.
Meanwhile, the Iraq war has diverted much attention and resources from the war in Afghanistan which you acknowledge has gotten worse and with the situation in Pakistan is more dire than ever. I fully supported that war but I am also aware of the continuing problem with women's rights as well as incidents like the recent death sentence for blasphemy of a reporter. "A young journalist in the north of Afghanistan faces the death penalty in what observers say is a well-orchestrated campaign of intimidation against the media."
The expectation of an American-style democracy in both Iraq and Afghanistan may not be entirely realistic. The mission should have been kept to hunting down Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida.
As for my knowledge of history, I am not a scholar, but I have spent much time studying my religon and I have a special interest in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict because, to me, I just find it incredible that anyone could read the Bible and not wonder about all of that outright slaughter. Do you honestly consider a Palestinian life to be as valuable as an American life? An Iraqi?
Honestly, I have found William Dalrymple's comment about simple-minded bigots to be quite appropriate when considering the remarks made on right-wing blogs. I do not judge your comments to be honest or convincing.
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Whatever. You go ahead and believe that you "support the troops." My local paper has reported - War? What war? - that the number of high-quality recruits has continually dropped since the Iraq war started.
The Bush administration is sending "strong signals" that the troop reductions will slow or stop altogether this summer (multiple tours - even longer than 15 months?) because the recent security improvements are "tenuous," and top U.S. commanders predict that the battle for Mosul will be a "grinding campaign" that will require more firepower from both the Pentagon and Iraqi allies.
That's OK, there is no limit to what you will ask of the troops.
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Also, this from TIME:
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. military isn't ready for a catastrophic attack on the country, and National Guard forces don't have the equipment or training they need for the job, according to a report.
Even fewer Army National Guard units are combat-ready today than were nearly a year ago when the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves determined that 88 percent of the units were not prepared for the fight, the panel says in a new report released Thursday.
The independent commission is charged by Congress to recommend changes in law and policy concerning the Guard and Reserves.
The commission's 400-page report concludes that the nation "does not have sufficient trained, ready forces available" to respond to a chemical, biological or nuclear weapons incident, "an appalling gap that places the nation and its citizens at greater risk."
"Right now we don't have the forces we need, we don't have them trained, we don't have the equipment," commission Chairman Arnold Punaro said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Even though there is a lot going on in this area, we need to do a lot more. ... There's a lot of things in the pipeline, but in the world we live in — you're either ready or you're not."
Friday, February 1, 2008
You Got The Government You Deserve
What I’ve been trying to say is that townhallers only look out for themselves. From your attitudes about “entitlement” programs to your mistaken belief that America has done no wrong, never has, never will – it’s your inability to look at anything from a perspective other than your own. You people are supremacists. You twist everything around until it suits you and you can look straight at the facts and only see what you want to see.
There are two very distinct groups of people here. The “religious right” types pretend that the “hateful redneck” types do not exist and vice versa. Come to think of it, the “religious right” types do display some “hateful redneck” tendencies, maybe that’s why it works. At any rate, I know from personal experience that the two groups do not even like each other. The beer-drinking, profanity-spouting, intolerant rednecks do not think much of the “Bible-thumping,” holier-than-thou Jesus-freaks. Mighty strange bedfellows.
What do you expect? Your government is the government you deserve. The Republicans you elect are RINOs and do not do what they say they will do, what you want them to do, because THEY are only looking out for themselves. They get elected and suddenly they forget the little peons even exist.
Did our representatives invent greed, graft? Maybe they ARE truly representative.
There are two very distinct groups of people here. The “religious right” types pretend that the “hateful redneck” types do not exist and vice versa. Come to think of it, the “religious right” types do display some “hateful redneck” tendencies, maybe that’s why it works. At any rate, I know from personal experience that the two groups do not even like each other. The beer-drinking, profanity-spouting, intolerant rednecks do not think much of the “Bible-thumping,” holier-than-thou Jesus-freaks. Mighty strange bedfellows.
What do you expect? Your government is the government you deserve. The Republicans you elect are RINOs and do not do what they say they will do, what you want them to do, because THEY are only looking out for themselves. They get elected and suddenly they forget the little peons even exist.
Did our representatives invent greed, graft? Maybe they ARE truly representative.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Religious Right Has Some Mighty Strange Bedfellows
The religious right has some mighty strange bedfellows.
JD's Handsome Son says that liberals tell you where you can live, who you can live with, who you can associate with? I thought it was the "social conservatives" who want to tell people what they can and cannot do. John Edwards "legally steals" his money but rich Republicans who game the system are just good ole boys, I guess.
He says,"Being partly an indigenous aborigine, (all of us born here are native Americans, check your Webster's dictionary), does not give you license to make rules for the rest of us. I know this shocks you communists who've been raised on an ethnic entitlement mentality. Trust me, I'm white and I'm right. (How do you like that ethnic arrogance? How does it feel?)"
It feels like you are a snotty-nosed spoiled little brat. How contemptuous of our own much more recent history but try talking to him about Israel and he will probably spout off about the Islamo-fascist towel-head, camel-jockey, jihadi threat.
What about the threat that comes from an arrogant, smug, know-it-all populace that has nothing better to do but wallow in their hatred and have never learned to think for themselves?
JD's Handsome Son says that liberals tell you where you can live, who you can live with, who you can associate with? I thought it was the "social conservatives" who want to tell people what they can and cannot do. John Edwards "legally steals" his money but rich Republicans who game the system are just good ole boys, I guess.
He says,"Being partly an indigenous aborigine, (all of us born here are native Americans, check your Webster's dictionary), does not give you license to make rules for the rest of us. I know this shocks you communists who've been raised on an ethnic entitlement mentality. Trust me, I'm white and I'm right. (How do you like that ethnic arrogance? How does it feel?)"
It feels like you are a snotty-nosed spoiled little brat. How contemptuous of our own much more recent history but try talking to him about Israel and he will probably spout off about the Islamo-fascist towel-head, camel-jockey, jihadi threat.
What about the threat that comes from an arrogant, smug, know-it-all populace that has nothing better to do but wallow in their hatred and have never learned to think for themselves?
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Bush's Voodoo Economics?
President Bush said in his SOTU address that we should not let his tax cuts expire and that he will balance the budget by 2012. A financial columnist in my local paper said that in order to have a "slight surplus" by 2012 we will have to let the tax cuts expire and we will have to keep the alternative minimum tax.
Voodoo!?!
Voodoo!?!
Where Would "W" Be Without Daddy?
wildwest writes: Tuesday, January, 22, 2008 5:31 PM
delusional lilly
you still refuse to accept thaqt the missus clinton acquired everything after college based on her marriage to a hick politician who became president. Without bubba she would have never acquired the positions she achieved. Without being bubba's long suffering victimized wife she would have had as much chance of of becoming senator as a snowball would last in a blast furnace. Without bubba she would have never been considered for president. To insist otherwise is total fabrication. She is now relying bubba's phony popularity to save her run for president. Without bubba oblahma would find the way to defeat her.
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Excuse me, without Bush Sr. where would W be? At least Bill Clinton chose his wife for certain attributes whereas W is just an accident of birth unless you believe in dynasties.
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lilly writes: "In addition to being First Lady (tea parties?) Hillary Clinton has worked in social policy law for 35 years. She has a distinguished law degree (Juris Doctor) from one of the most prestigious law schools in the world (Yale)."
delusional lilly
you still refuse to accept thaqt the missus clinton acquired everything after college based on her marriage to a hick politician who became president. Without bubba she would have never acquired the positions she achieved. Without being bubba's long suffering victimized wife she would have had as much chance of of becoming senator as a snowball would last in a blast furnace. Without bubba she would have never been considered for president. To insist otherwise is total fabrication. She is now relying bubba's phony popularity to save her run for president. Without bubba oblahma would find the way to defeat her.
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Excuse me, without Bush Sr. where would W be? At least Bill Clinton chose his wife for certain attributes whereas W is just an accident of birth unless you believe in dynasties.
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lilly writes: "In addition to being First Lady (tea parties?) Hillary Clinton has worked in social policy law for 35 years. She has a distinguished law degree (Juris Doctor) from one of the most prestigious law schools in the world (Yale)."
Global Warming Is A Hoax - Right-Wing Says So
Thursday, January, 24, 2008 7:18 PM
buzzkat writes: Thursday, January, 24, 2008 4:47 PM Not so fast ...For instance, Newt, just as GWB has, has thrown in the towel on the America's fault global warming hoax...
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Hicks.How can you look at the pictures of the pollution in Beijing and not be the least bit concerned? Are you aware that that pollution makes its way to California? Our demand for cheap goods is fueling China's growth. Of course, nobody can prove what is happening but many scientists find the evidence compelling. I think the Republicans who have proven they only look out for themselves are just afraid that they will make a sacrifice for their children and future generations and what if it turns out to be unnecessary? Oh, my gosh, what a horrible injustice. The biggest injustice in the history of humanity. Boo Hoo.
buzzkat writes: Thursday, January, 24, 2008 4:47 PM Not so fast ...For instance, Newt, just as GWB has, has thrown in the towel on the America's fault global warming hoax...
-----------------
Hicks.How can you look at the pictures of the pollution in Beijing and not be the least bit concerned? Are you aware that that pollution makes its way to California? Our demand for cheap goods is fueling China's growth. Of course, nobody can prove what is happening but many scientists find the evidence compelling. I think the Republicans who have proven they only look out for themselves are just afraid that they will make a sacrifice for their children and future generations and what if it turns out to be unnecessary? Oh, my gosh, what a horrible injustice. The biggest injustice in the history of humanity. Boo Hoo.
At Hateful Townhallers
JD's Handsome Son writes: Saturday, January, 26, 2008 9:40 AM
JD's Handsome Son writes:Saturday, January, 26, 2008 9:40 AMDualityMr. Gates sits atop a $100 Billion estate and looks down at us to say we should sacrifice, forgo our pleasures and give to others.John Edwards lives in a 28,000 sq. ft. clear cut remote mountain top resort in North Carolina that he acquired from legally stealing from others and tells us we are selfish greed heads and must sacrifice for others.Al Gore cruises the stratosphere in Gulf Stream IIs, jetting off to exotic locales to cavort with other wealthy elites when he looks down and sees we still warm our meager homes and drive to work. This upsets him and he scolds us for destroying the planet. He tells the world it has to sacrifice and the inhabitants of the Earth really should just go away and die to save the whales.Our ruling elites are chauffeured in plush limousines with armed guards with automatic weapons, but they want us disarmed to face the criminals their foolish progressive laws have created and enabled.Liberals push for laws to control who we hire, fire and promote, where we live, who lives with us, what words we can and cannot say, and who we can associate with. After work they hop in their Volvos, BMWs, and Lexus vehicles to their homogeneous white exclusive non inclusive gated communities where they point their bony fingers of blame at us for being insensitive.Hypocrite evil despicable liberal sons a b****es!
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A little bitter, are we, a little envious? You people are just hateful.
I was born into a free country. People who came before me had established what is considered the greatest democracy in history.
They had already built much infrastructure, schools, government facilities, community buildings, fire departments, police departments, health departments, defense departments and on and on.
They established programs whereby ordinary people, who would have previously been laughed out of the banks, could buy homes, establishing a middle class who could then send their kids to college.
I find it very odd that the very system that has enabled so many to become successful suddenly becomes unnecessary once they do.
I was born in a beautiful city with numerous parks, fountains and boulevards (Kansas City, Missouri, the city of fountains) .
I also have Native American heritage and so I feel that people who are born here or come here have an obligation to give back and to work as a society to make this a better place than they found it.
Maybe you should be asking yourself what you can do for this country, not what it can do for you.
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JD's Handsome Son writes:
Saturday, January, 26, 2008 2:30 PM
Ick odd nuto
You did not comprehend what I posted above. I do not begrudge successful people in this country. I resent them when after they've succeeded, they arrogantly and hypocritically assume they've been chosen to govern the rest of us. They conspicuously violate and disregard the rules they issue to us.Being partly an indigenous aborigine, (all of us born here are native Americans, check your Webster's dictionary), does not give you license to make rules for the rest of us. I know this shocks you communists who've been raised on an ethnic entitlement mentality. Trust me, I'm white and I'm right. (How do you like that ethnic arrogance? How does it feel?)And I have and continue to give back to this country. I pay lots of taxes to underwrite the existence of many non-productive Americans and illegal citizens of the world who come here to get free food, housing, medical care and in state tuition, then turn around and pi$$ on the country that invited them and cop a victim entitlement mentality that you've shown above.Your posts are ignorant and degrade the high level of discourse here in Townhall. You should leave and not come back.
JD's Handsome Son writes:Saturday, January, 26, 2008 9:40 AMDualityMr. Gates sits atop a $100 Billion estate and looks down at us to say we should sacrifice, forgo our pleasures and give to others.John Edwards lives in a 28,000 sq. ft. clear cut remote mountain top resort in North Carolina that he acquired from legally stealing from others and tells us we are selfish greed heads and must sacrifice for others.Al Gore cruises the stratosphere in Gulf Stream IIs, jetting off to exotic locales to cavort with other wealthy elites when he looks down and sees we still warm our meager homes and drive to work. This upsets him and he scolds us for destroying the planet. He tells the world it has to sacrifice and the inhabitants of the Earth really should just go away and die to save the whales.Our ruling elites are chauffeured in plush limousines with armed guards with automatic weapons, but they want us disarmed to face the criminals their foolish progressive laws have created and enabled.Liberals push for laws to control who we hire, fire and promote, where we live, who lives with us, what words we can and cannot say, and who we can associate with. After work they hop in their Volvos, BMWs, and Lexus vehicles to their homogeneous white exclusive non inclusive gated communities where they point their bony fingers of blame at us for being insensitive.Hypocrite evil despicable liberal sons a b****es!
---------------------
A little bitter, are we, a little envious? You people are just hateful.
I was born into a free country. People who came before me had established what is considered the greatest democracy in history.
They had already built much infrastructure, schools, government facilities, community buildings, fire departments, police departments, health departments, defense departments and on and on.
They established programs whereby ordinary people, who would have previously been laughed out of the banks, could buy homes, establishing a middle class who could then send their kids to college.
I find it very odd that the very system that has enabled so many to become successful suddenly becomes unnecessary once they do.
I was born in a beautiful city with numerous parks, fountains and boulevards (Kansas City, Missouri, the city of fountains) .
I also have Native American heritage and so I feel that people who are born here or come here have an obligation to give back and to work as a society to make this a better place than they found it.
Maybe you should be asking yourself what you can do for this country, not what it can do for you.
-----------------------------
JD's Handsome Son writes:
Saturday, January, 26, 2008 2:30 PM
Ick odd nuto
You did not comprehend what I posted above. I do not begrudge successful people in this country. I resent them when after they've succeeded, they arrogantly and hypocritically assume they've been chosen to govern the rest of us. They conspicuously violate and disregard the rules they issue to us.Being partly an indigenous aborigine, (all of us born here are native Americans, check your Webster's dictionary), does not give you license to make rules for the rest of us. I know this shocks you communists who've been raised on an ethnic entitlement mentality. Trust me, I'm white and I'm right. (How do you like that ethnic arrogance? How does it feel?)And I have and continue to give back to this country. I pay lots of taxes to underwrite the existence of many non-productive Americans and illegal citizens of the world who come here to get free food, housing, medical care and in state tuition, then turn around and pi$$ on the country that invited them and cop a victim entitlement mentality that you've shown above.Your posts are ignorant and degrade the high level of discourse here in Townhall. You should leave and not come back.
Republican Women Are An Insult
Glenn McCoy’s cartoon (1-21-08) where Hillary is being heckled by men, “IRON MY SHIRT,” and her husband, “STARCH MY SHORTS,” is insulting – to Republican women. Why these women would remain in a party where such attitudes are rampant is beyond me. Disgraceful.
"Double Taxation" - Corportate Income Tax
George Will states (Opinion, 1/05), without elaboration, that the corporate income tax rate should be zero. He has also said that the minimum wage should be zero and that car companies are welfare states that sell cars to pay the benefits that they agreed to. Maybe it is time for some disclosure. Is Will speaking from some twisted ideology or just plain greed and self-interest? How much does he have riding on the stock market and with which companies?
Corporations are formed by a deliberate legal maneuver designed to insulate the investors from the responsibility of day-to-day management and from personal risk. That is why they are taxed; they are separate legal entities. Otherwise, in a case such as Enron, for example, shareholders would not just lose their investment; creditors could come after their personal assets, as well.
Corporations also leave a huge footprint on the environment - think of all those trucks tearing up the highway – on our courts and regulatory agencies. Why shouldn’t they pay their fair share? Does Will think he is so revered that he can just make crackpot statements without explaining his reasoning or have the Republicans, all, lost touch with reality in their quest for the almighty dollar?
Corporations are formed by a deliberate legal maneuver designed to insulate the investors from the responsibility of day-to-day management and from personal risk. That is why they are taxed; they are separate legal entities. Otherwise, in a case such as Enron, for example, shareholders would not just lose their investment; creditors could come after their personal assets, as well.
Corporations also leave a huge footprint on the environment - think of all those trucks tearing up the highway – on our courts and regulatory agencies. Why shouldn’t they pay their fair share? Does Will think he is so revered that he can just make crackpot statements without explaining his reasoning or have the Republicans, all, lost touch with reality in their quest for the almighty dollar?
The Surge
Patty Matthews (Letters, 1-02-08) writes that it was the surge that enabled the Sunnis to turn against al-Qaida; it was the surge that took back the major cities from the extremists, etc. The dots that she and the conservative pundits seem to be unable to connect is that the surge definitively proved that there were never enough boots on the ground in Iraq from the beginning.
Many of our top military leaders were against a “surge” because they knew it would mean extended deployments for an already strained military and that the surge could not be maintained past this summer. What will happen after the additional troops start pulling out is not clear.
I am a military family member and I believe there should have been a draft a long time ago. The troops should have had the real support they needed to stay until the Iraqi people could produce a viable country.
Many of our top military leaders were against a “surge” because they knew it would mean extended deployments for an already strained military and that the surge could not be maintained past this summer. What will happen after the additional troops start pulling out is not clear.
I am a military family member and I believe there should have been a draft a long time ago. The troops should have had the real support they needed to stay until the Iraqi people could produce a viable country.
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