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Once again, news stories about our war strategy in Afghanistan are dominating headlines. And the recent icing on the cake is President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize and how that may affect Afghanistan’s military direction.
Have you ever really paused to reflect on how our current strategy of ‘war on terror’ began? I’ve had this conversation numerous times and, almost regardless of political affiliation, the conversation resembles the following:
Q: Why are we in Afghanistan?
A: Because al-Qaeda attacked us, and the Taliban helped them.
Q: Why did they attack us?
A: Because they hate us.
Q: Why do they hate us?
A1: They hate our freedoms.
A2: They detest our wasteful lifestyle.
This is about the point where I shake my head in utter disbelief. How naive and stupid can we be as a nation? Terrorists don’t give a damn about our freedoms or how much of it we have. They couldn’t care less about our lifestyle either. They don’t have time for this non-sense. Grow up people. Jealousy is not their motivation. They attacked us because they detest our presence in the Middle East and our meddling in their affairs.
The conversation continues:
Q: Why are we in the Middle East?
A: To protect our interests.
Q: What are our interests?
A: Peace, democracy, Israel, ensuring 9/11 never happens again.
How small-minded! Most Republicans I speak to do not even cite oil as a top reason for our presence in the Middle East. Democrats jump all over the oil issue, but are unable to see the big picture.
The only reason we are in and care about the Middle East is oil. If you’re unable to see this truth, you live in a fantasy world. As a nation, we don’t care about democracy in other parts of the world. We are not interested in human rights. We are not able to control terrorism abroad. Don’t be fooled by what the government is telling us.
Democracy
Who’s our best friend in the Middle East despite the fact that they produced 19 of the 20 9/11 hijackers? Saudis, of course. Do they have a democracy? Far from it. When was the last time we threatened them with UN sanctions? Never. Why? Oil! I rest my case.
Who’s our other best friend in the Middle East? Israel. Do they have a democracy? Yes. Has that helped us in any decipherable way in the past few decades? I, as a member of the American public, am not aware of any. Are you?
Human Rights
Where was the last Olympics held? In China. Did we force them to confront their human rights violations in return for awarding them the Olympics? No. Why? They own our currency.
Terrorism and Spread of Democracy in the Middle East
The war on terror is not winnable. There, I said it. It is so un-impressively naive to believe that a democratically-elected government in Afghanistan is going to bury terrorism for us. Even if that was the case, then what? Pakistan is next, and we’ll have no choice but to invade them as well. At some point, we’ll have to deal with a nuclear face-off between India and Pakistan. In the mean time, Saudis will produce generation after generation of terrorists.
Democracy does not stop terrorism in the Middle East. In fact, there’s evidence that it will increase it. Israel is a democracy. Has any of that rubbed off on their neighbors in Palestine?
So much for protecting our interests in the Middle East.
I dismissed this at first. I could not see how “yes we can” could possibly sound like “thank you satan” when played backward. But after listening to a number of recordings and trying it for myself, I totally believe it. The thing to remember is that “thank you satan” doesn’t have to sound perfect. It just has to be phonetically close. Listen for yourself → Thank-you-Satan
Try it for yourself. If you have Windows OS, go to Sound Recorder and record “yes we can”. Do this a couple of times in a row so that you can get the full effect. Then play it backward (Reverse option under Effects menu). With a little imagination, it will sound like “thank you satan”.
Now do it the other way. Record “thank you satan” a few times in a row, and play it in reverse. This time it will sound like “yes we can”.
There we have it. Our President is thanking Satan. Well isn’t that special?
Where’s the Church Lady when you need her. If you don’t get that reference, you must be very young and I hate you.
By now, we all know about President Obama’s visit to Notre Dame. It was filled with controversy for Christians and especially for Catholics. Please! Get real! I have 2 quick observations:
First, I find it fascinating that the Republican party – the party that prides itself on less regulation and more personal responsibility – is so determined to pursue Constitutional Amendments against gay marriage and abortion. Whatever happened to leaving regulations to the States? Whatever happened to leaving personal matters to individuals’ decisions? Clearly, all that big talk apply only if they agree with your religious views and political agendas.
Second, let’s assume abortion is killing a living baby. I can truly accept and, in a way, believe that. Now, some one tell me how abortion can be viewed as a much worse act than killing a living person. Remember the 10 Commandments? Remember the sixth one: thou shalt not murder? No where does it say thou shalt not murder only the unborn.
I find it absolutely hypocritical that most Christians who are so against abortion are precisely the same individuals whose core ideology is the same as that of Rush Limbaugh’s and Dick Cheney’s. The same ideology that merits we (the U.S.) are the king of the world, we should govern the world and protect ourselves at any cost, and if some innocent lives are lost in the process, so be it. Every time we drop bombs and rockets to kill terrorists, we inevitably kill some innocent by-standards in the process. Some of those innocent souls are children, newborns and even unborn. Therefore, we are violating the sixth commandment. Where’s the outrage? Where are the protests?
In no way am I suggesting that we should not fiercely protect ourselves or avoid pre-emptive strikes. And I’m not so naive to think that we can do all that with no non-military casualties. But then I don’t have an existential crisis, and I’m not hypocritically against abortion while practically supporting the deaths of unborn and pregnant women in war. That is not for me to resolve. Those of you Christians who are against abortion and thought Obama’s visit to Notre Dame was an abomination must work this out between yourselves and your God. And be careful what conclusion you reach. If you believe that God agrees with your views and supports your plan, you have reached the wrong conclusion. It should be exactly the opposite!
Eternal damnation is not just for those who support or perform abortion. It is also for those who violate the sixth commandment. That could be you. Think about it.
Larry Ford of Fort Walton Beach, FL has a message. He doesn’t like President Obama, and he definitely wants everyone to know it. So he did what any other person in his position would do to protest. He erected a sign at a busy intersection that reads: → source
JAN 20, 2009
A DAY OF DARKNESS
HUSSEN
In case you’re wondering or confused, the last line of the sign read Hussen – as in a mis-spelled version of Hussein. When someone pointed out that Obama’s middle name was mis-spelled, Mr. Ford replied:
“I think everybody knows who I’m talking about, don’t you?” he said. “American people are the stupidest people in the world, but something like that I think they can figure out.”
I admit it. I did not listen to or watch President Obama’s speech on Tuesday addressing the joint sessions of Congress. I did, however, watch the Republican response by Bobby Jindal. I always listen to the opposition response (Democrat or Republican). That’s where I learn more detail, and I use that as my measuring stick. I had no intention of blogging about Jindal’s response. It’s already been blogged to death. But what the heck . . .
Where did Republicans find this guy? He’s as charismatic on camera as John Kerry. His uncomfortable reading of the tele-prompter was as non-engaging as watching Mr. Rogers anchor the nightly news. Mr. Jindal, didn’t anyone inform you that a story about your immigrant parents is now cliche? It’s been doen already by Obama – and masterfully. If you keep talking about it, the Republicans may begin investigating the authenticity of your birth certificate too. The only portion of Jindal’s speech that I could get into was the last few minutes when he spoke about what conservative values mean.
Rachael Maddow’s views are too far to the left for me, but I got a chuckle out of her reaction to Jindal’s rebuttal. She’s really funny sometimes.
But watch out everyone. Rush Limbaugh is mad and he’s not going to take it anymore. During his radio show on Wednesday, 2/25/09, he gave a stern warning to conservatives:
“Because if you think people on our side, I’m talking to you, those of you who think Jindal was horrible, in fact, I don’t want to hear from you ever again if you think that what Bobby Jindal said was bad or what he said was wrong or not said well, because, folks, style is not going to take our country back.”
No Rush. You’re wrong. Style counts. Reagan’s success was not accidental. He had style. He had charisma. He brought people to his side. He spoke elegantly. He didn’t fumble through his speeches. And, more importantly, he fully comprehended the concept and importance of being popular.
By the way, here’s a nice article about 10 things you probably don’t know about Bobby Jindal.
We have certainly kicked off the new year with a wave of Op-Ed articles that have completely different tones than in the past 8 years.
On January 4, the New York Times published an Op-Ed article written by John Bolton (former ambassador to the UN) and John Yoo (law professor and former deputy assistant attorney general) titled “Restore the Senate’s Treaty Power”. In it, they argued that the Senate must exercise its constitutional power to prevent the President from taking unilateral international actions. Mr. Bolton and Mr. Yoo are worried that President Obama will push through a Kyoto style treaty agenda.
Like past presidents, Mr. Obama will likely be tempted to avoid the requirement that treaties must be approved by two-thirds of the Senate. The usual methods around this constitutional constraint are executive agreements or a majority vote in the House and Senate to pass a treaty as a simple law (known as a Congressional-executive agreement).
No kidding? How convenient! Now that a Democrat is about to become President, it is apparently of the utmost importance to ensure that Congress’ power is in place. The Constitution has been around for a couple of hundred years. Where the hell were you guys in the past 8 years? Oh, that’s right! With a conservative administration in power, there was no Constitution to worry about, was there?
The article went on:
The framers of the Constitution designed the treaty process with a bias against “entangling alliances,” as Thomas Jefferson described them in his first inaugural address. They designated the Senate as the body responsible to protect the interests of the states from being bargained away by the president in deals with foreign nations. The framers required a supermajority to ensure that treaties would reflect a broad consensus and careful, mature decision-making.
What is truly sad about all this is that I completely agree with the Op-Ed. Senate’s treaty power must be enacted and exercised. But it should have been enacted 8 years ago. I ask again, where the hell were you gentlemen during Bush’s Presidency? Was your computer broken? Could you not have written this Op-Ed 8 years ago?
Even by their own admission, Mr. Bolton and Mr. Yoo conceded that President Bush did not seek a supermajority in the Senate during his years in office.
President George W. Bush resisted many efforts at global governance. But his administration still sometimes fell into the temptation to flout the constitutional requirement of a two-thirds majority in the Senate.
You guys (Bolton & Yoo) are pathetic. You are correct in your view, but pathetic in your timing and execution. Don’t you know that until you demonstrate you are willing to drink your own Kool-aid, no one other than members of your own base will hold you and your opinions in high regard?
I just discovered this story. It’s a bit late, but I like it nevertheless.
You may have noticed that some old pictures of Barack Obama have recently surfaced. These were taken when Barack was a student at Occidental College in California by a friend. Not surprisingly, Fox News could not wait to jump on this story.
On December 19 edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Gretchen Carlson said:
“There are some very intriguing pictures of Barack Obama photos. Look at this one. This one has him smoking a cigarette which we have not seen. Would have served any purpose to release these photos before the election?” → source
Seriously Gretchen? You didn’t know that Obama smoked? Are you truly this uninformed? The rest of us who are not even journalists know that he quit smoking early during his Presidential campaign.
Another notable Fox News personality, Sean Hannity, said during his radio show: “Where were these pictures during the campaign? Just take a look at this. Barack Obama has a hat, you know, pulling a drag on a cigarette.”
Oh, yes, that’s right! Only if America knew about these pictures earlier . . . only if the American people knew that Obama used to smoke and that, at one point in his life, he owned a hat . . . only if we knew! We would have united as a nation in our opposition to “hat wearing smokers from Hawaii running for President” and had voted for the other guy. Only if we knew this prior to the election! That darn media kept these picture from the public until after the election. Gee, if this isn’t a media conspiracy, I don’t know what is.
According to the photographer, Lisa Jack, she had placed these photos in a safe deposit box until after the election. She was concerned that they may be used for “gotcha” purposes.
Grow up Sean. Grow up Gretchen. Move on Fox News. Give me news, not childish garbage. I turn on Fox News to learn, not to see you folks dwell over how the media might have won the election for Obama.
Oh, and apparently Obama’s past smoking (and hat wearing) is a much bigger sin than President Bush’s past drinking. Very fair and balanced, Fox News!
By the way, that thing Obama is smoking looks like a joint to me.
Time magazine has awarded President-elect Obama Person of the Year. In a related story, Vice President-elect Biden has selected Time Magazine’s Jay Carney as his communication director. This, apparently, has set off conspiracy alarms for Sean Hannity.
On the December 17th edition of Hannity & Colmes, Sean said:
Shocker: The president-elect is crowned Time magazine’s Person of the Year; this after Time magazine’s D.C. bureau chief accepts a job in the Obama White House. Ah, I’m sure it’s a coincidence.
News flash, Mr. Hannity. Time Magazine often selects Presidents and President-elects as Person of the Year.
2008 – Barack Obama (President-elect)
2004 – George W Bush (re-elected)
2000 – George W Bush (President-elect)
1992 – Bill Clinton (President-elect)
1990 – George H W Bush (President)
1976 – Jimmy Carter (President-elect)
1964 – Lyndon Johnson (President)
Stop it already with your half-baked conspiracy theories Sean. Do something more useful and productive. Ask Obama what he’s planning to do about the economy. Ask him what his step-by-step plans are for Iraq and Afghanistan. Ask for detailed plans for Iran and North Korea. This B.S. about Person of the Year is completely irrelevant. No one cares. Grow up! Stop wasting your viewers’ time.
The war on Terror . . .
Posted by jmjorat 
I admit it. I did not listen to or watch President Obama’s speech on Tuesday addressing the joint sessions of Congress. I did, however, watch the Republican response by Bobby Jindal. I always listen to the opposition response (Democrat or Republican). That’s where I learn more detail, and I use that as my measuring stick. I had no intention of blogging about Jindal’s response. It’s already been blogged to death. But what the heck . . .
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