11/09/2005
Poetry for Dummies
Ever wonder why you (or your kid) had to write that 5th-grade poem in the shape of a diamond. Plaigirist explains in "Not With A Bang, But A Whimper."
6/18/2004
Country Joe Is Still Ranting, Too
His latest protest is "Cakewalk to Baghdad". When you get to the lyrics page, click on Richard Perle to listen!
Another New Ranter on the Left
Check out Enemy of the People. This guy Goldstein started his blog just last month, but he must be, at least in part, responsible for the recent blogsphere-wide snark shortage.
But some folks seem to be getting their Goldsteins confused.
But some folks seem to be getting their Goldsteins confused.
6/15/2004
Warmongering, Scaremongering, Ass-covering
Dick Cheney claimed again yesterday that Saddam Hussein "had long established ties with al Qaida." This canard was one of the several, ever-shifting rationales offered for making war in Iraq in the first place, but it has been almost completely discredited. Saddam's ties to al Qaida are more tenuous than the neocons' long-standing ties to Saddam Hussein. How long before Cheney once again contradicts Bush and claims that we've found WMDs in Iraq?
Dick Cheney salutes the James Madison Institute.
6/14/2004
Public Outcry Builds for Regime Change
Angered by Bush administration policies they contend endanger national security, a non-partisan group of 26 retired U.S. diplomats and military officers are urging Americans to vote President Bush out of office in November. The list includes retired senior military officers, diplomats, and ambassadors appointed by Presidents Reagan, Bush Sr., and Clinton. If the folly of the Bush foreign policy is not obvious to voters, we can only hope that they'll remember the experts' opinions in November. While these guys don't explicitly endorse Kerry, they know that we've got to oust the neocon cabal that has taken over in Washington.
5/19/2004
War is Hell
I made the following comments in a private forum in March 2003. If you start here, you'll know my POV.
"That war is hell is why it is so tragic that a US President would so transparently seek it. Even as he sought the support of the UN and insisted that war was a last resort, Bush intended all along to invade Iraq and depose Saddam. Even as he tried to tear the UN mantle from the hands of the Security Council, he yielded the moral high ground by his bellicosity. Bush can't claim to be putting down the bully of the Middle East because the world is now inured to being bullied by Bush. This was the failed diplomacy that was the prelude to war.
Now, we are on the slippery slope that is inevitable in war. We find ourselves in the same situation as the Israelis, fighting a poorly armed enemy that will be crushed in a fair fight. So, why should they fight fair? And if we fight fair when they don't, many more Americans will be killed. Thus, we rationalize breaking the rules that we insist on, even the ones we claim to defend. Some people will have no qualms about firing rockets into residential buildings if we suspect a sniper is inside and it might save American lives. Even my bleeding heart is conflicted where American lives are at stake. And that is why it is so tragic that our president led our country into this hell.
While I believe that this war is more tragic than most because it was avoidable, I am not ambivalent about working in the headquarters of the US military. Our troops still deserve the best we can give them. (No, I'm not referring to a tax cut.)"
"That war is hell is why it is so tragic that a US President would so transparently seek it. Even as he sought the support of the UN and insisted that war was a last resort, Bush intended all along to invade Iraq and depose Saddam. Even as he tried to tear the UN mantle from the hands of the Security Council, he yielded the moral high ground by his bellicosity. Bush can't claim to be putting down the bully of the Middle East because the world is now inured to being bullied by Bush. This was the failed diplomacy that was the prelude to war.
Now, we are on the slippery slope that is inevitable in war. We find ourselves in the same situation as the Israelis, fighting a poorly armed enemy that will be crushed in a fair fight. So, why should they fight fair? And if we fight fair when they don't, many more Americans will be killed. Thus, we rationalize breaking the rules that we insist on, even the ones we claim to defend. Some people will have no qualms about firing rockets into residential buildings if we suspect a sniper is inside and it might save American lives. Even my bleeding heart is conflicted where American lives are at stake. And that is why it is so tragic that our president led our country into this hell.
While I believe that this war is more tragic than most because it was avoidable, I am not ambivalent about working in the headquarters of the US military. Our troops still deserve the best we can give them. (No, I'm not referring to a tax cut.)"
