Thursday, September 14, 2006
Bush make's bin Laden's case
Dangerous, dangerous stuff for people, especially the president, to boil this nation's enemies down to "islamofascism, as if it our enemies were unified.
To lump them together makes it easier for them to actually work together, despite their natural antagonisms toward one another.
We have enemies, people, not "an enemy." But wait, that takes determined thought and determined action, not just emotional, knee-jerk reaction, like this.
Fareed Zakaria says it better than I can.
We have enemies, not "an enemy." Once we let the simple-minded idea of "an enemy" set, we will blind oursleves to those who don't fit that preconceived notion.
Unfortunately, the president himself, unwittingly working with Osama, is the creator in chief of this false notion.
--ER
P.S. Oh. I don't reckon anybody's readin' these reruns, but here anyway.
9/14/01+5
To lump them together makes it easier for them to actually work together, despite their natural antagonisms toward one another.
We have enemies, people, not "an enemy." But wait, that takes determined thought and determined action, not just emotional, knee-jerk reaction, like this.
Fareed Zakaria says it better than I can.
We have enemies, not "an enemy." Once we let the simple-minded idea of "an enemy" set, we will blind oursleves to those who don't fit that preconceived notion.
Unfortunately, the president himself, unwittingly working with Osama, is the creator in chief of this false notion.
--ER
P.S. Oh. I don't reckon anybody's readin' these reruns, but here anyway.
9/14/01+5
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Sure we are. but we end up "posting" at the end of the original rahter than where it should be here.
Pshaw. I saw where you left a commnet or two.
BTW, I get an e-mail whenever a comment is left on any post. That's the ease and beauty of blooger ...
BTW, I get an e-mail whenever a comment is left on any post. That's the ease and beauty of blooger ...
As for enemy versus enemies, we did the same damn thing in Nam. We couldn't see the North Vietnamese as part of a Civil War and lumped them with China and Russia and Laos and even Cuba. All Communist were the same.
Guess what less than two years after we left Nam they were in a border war with China and another one with the Pathet Lao in Laos, not to mention the conflict with the Kymer Rouge in Cambodia which they invaded. Some dominoe theory.
Once again, we should leave the middle east and let them kill each other until it is safe to return.
Oil? do the oil shale in Colorado. That deposit has more oil in it than all of the middle east, and it only cost a hundred dollars a barrel to do. Which is cheaper $100 a barrel oil here or a $400 Billion war there? We have already spent enough in Iraq to have extracted 4 billion barrels of oil from Colorado oil shale.
Voodoo economics.......
Guess what less than two years after we left Nam they were in a border war with China and another one with the Pathet Lao in Laos, not to mention the conflict with the Kymer Rouge in Cambodia which they invaded. Some dominoe theory.
Once again, we should leave the middle east and let them kill each other until it is safe to return.
Oil? do the oil shale in Colorado. That deposit has more oil in it than all of the middle east, and it only cost a hundred dollars a barrel to do. Which is cheaper $100 a barrel oil here or a $400 Billion war there? We have already spent enough in Iraq to have extracted 4 billion barrels of oil from Colorado oil shale.
Voodoo economics.......
For inidviduals, churches, and schools.....
The Path to 9/11
Download complete movie from ABC absolutely free.
http://abc.go.com/movies/thepathto911/
A teachable moment: "The Path to 9/11" at your local school district courtesy of Scholastic Inc.. Oh yes, they changed the teacher's guide, but they are showing the same movie.
So what?
http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/news/press_09072006_CP.htm
Was The Path to 9/11 a "Christian" project? Crusades anybody?
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dan_glaister/2006/09/post_378.html
Relax guys, it was just a movie?
God, the mouse, and ABC; a new trinity.
The Path to 9/11
Download complete movie from ABC absolutely free.
http://abc.go.com/movies/thepathto911/
A teachable moment: "The Path to 9/11" at your local school district courtesy of Scholastic Inc.. Oh yes, they changed the teacher's guide, but they are showing the same movie.
So what?
http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/news/press_09072006_CP.htm
Was The Path to 9/11 a "Christian" project? Crusades anybody?
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dan_glaister/2006/09/post_378.html
Relax guys, it was just a movie?
God, the mouse, and ABC; a new trinity.
I need to find some Christians who opposed the *last* Crusade -- on CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES! Were there any??
They. Are. Going. To. Drive. Me. To. The. Streets.
They. Are. Going. To. Drive. Me. To. The. Streets.
Huh, didn't I notice you sitting on the fence a while back regarding military action against Iran? Do you really think your theological ethics regarding war and peace are any more consistent, or any less convoluted and self-serving than the right-wingers, you self-proclaimed Christian?
1. Maybe.
2. Not necesarrily.
3. Take yer meds, friend. I've never seen you take a stand, at least here, on anything at all.
2. Not necesarrily.
3. Take yer meds, friend. I've never seen you take a stand, at least here, on anything at all.
Now don't you be bulling my vice-president of the John Spruce Society. Us Sprucers have got to stick together. Remember the middle of the road is the correct half to be in.
I just hope some of the Righties notice I got accused of being a Christian! Hoo hoo!
Guilty.
Although I prefer "Jesusian."
Guilty.
Although I prefer "Jesusian."
I suppose "self-proclaimed" might have been a little too subtle for you. I suppose asking a journalist to read is like asking a McDonald's patty flipper out for a real meal.
Thanks DrL! You is still my President.
Thanks DrL! You is still my President.
TStock, many times the nuances of language you think you're employing fall flat -- not because I don't have ears to hear, but because you're not just not very good at using the language.
Say what you mean. Subject-verb-object works nicely. But quit slappinbg me around for the fun of it. If you have a point, make it.
Say what you mean. Subject-verb-object works nicely. But quit slappinbg me around for the fun of it. If you have a point, make it.
OK. I guess you can slap me around, for fun or ill. But I don't understand your point. I've never presented myself as a pacifist.
I think what he means is you lump all christians in one group. (because you lost your vote and most of them didn't)
You're a piss poor loser, when you lose, and run it in the ground when you don't.
I'm glad that you were a baptist in your former life so that you can get to heaven no matter how many times you church jump. Most jump 3 or 4 times then out of church completly. God Bless
You're a piss poor loser, when you lose, and run it in the ground when you don't.
I'm glad that you were a baptist in your former life so that you can get to heaven no matter how many times you church jump. Most jump 3 or 4 times then out of church completly. God Bless
Well, that's just not so. I consider all right-wing fundamentalist Christians of a feather.
The middle part? There is some truth to it. So what? Buh-bye!
And the rest of that comment's just an odd thing to say.
The middle part? There is some truth to it. So what? Buh-bye!
And the rest of that comment's just an odd thing to say.
Oh. I've been a Christian-Jesusian for 34 years. I have been a member of exactly two churches: the Baptist one I was raised in and the Congregational-UCC one I attend now. That ain't church-jumpin'.
I suppose journalists keeping their adjectives thin and conventional on cognitive content (e.g. "alleged") means they may miss something more fundamental (say, the adjective in "false accusation.)
Okay, here's a definite statement: as the citizen of not only a state (1) with nuclear weapons of its own; (2) and a history of serially invading other countries, most recently a middle sized Middle East country with a four letter name beginning with "I"; (3) which countenances possession by nuclear weapons of its ally in the region; (4)and is the only nation that has ever used nuclear weapons, and against predominantly civilian targets of a largely defeated foe; you won't "rule out" military force against ANOTHER Middle East country with a four letter name beginning with "I"; whose last external aggression was 30 years ago under the US ally Shah asserting complete control of the Shatt-al-Arab and, from the lessons next door and the rhetoric coming out of people like you, has every justification for developing nuclear weapons for self-defense - more immediate reasons than the US has for possessing them. Yeah, I know - the Leviathan is not subject to the Golden Rule, you sweet old Hobbesian. Or, more accurately, that it's not much more difficult to make your Jesus engage in stupid pet tricks that the right wingers you excoriate. It's what happens when your religion is a vague series of sentiments designed to justify you to yourself.
Okay, here's a definite statement: as the citizen of not only a state (1) with nuclear weapons of its own; (2) and a history of serially invading other countries, most recently a middle sized Middle East country with a four letter name beginning with "I"; (3) which countenances possession by nuclear weapons of its ally in the region; (4)and is the only nation that has ever used nuclear weapons, and against predominantly civilian targets of a largely defeated foe; you won't "rule out" military force against ANOTHER Middle East country with a four letter name beginning with "I"; whose last external aggression was 30 years ago under the US ally Shah asserting complete control of the Shatt-al-Arab and, from the lessons next door and the rhetoric coming out of people like you, has every justification for developing nuclear weapons for self-defense - more immediate reasons than the US has for possessing them. Yeah, I know - the Leviathan is not subject to the Golden Rule, you sweet old Hobbesian. Or, more accurately, that it's not much more difficult to make your Jesus engage in stupid pet tricks that the right wingers you excoriate. It's what happens when your religion is a vague series of sentiments designed to justify you to yourself.
Well, that makes more sense, although I'll have to look up exactly what I've said here about Iran.
My thohghts at the moment, Jesus's example aside, are: I don't think much of "rights" and history, to be honest, when it comes to the apparent likelihood of yet another country obtaining actual weapons of mass destruction. But that's the selfish human being in me talking, the one that wants to make sure I, as well as other human beings, live, not the Spirit of Jesus. I acknowledge the inconsistency between what I aim to be and what I am.
And, I'll assent to your penultimate sentence.
But your last sentence, a bit of emotional frippery on your part, I simply deny. There is no justification, under God, for myself, apart from the fact I exist as part of the creation. But, I am.
My thohghts at the moment, Jesus's example aside, are: I don't think much of "rights" and history, to be honest, when it comes to the apparent likelihood of yet another country obtaining actual weapons of mass destruction. But that's the selfish human being in me talking, the one that wants to make sure I, as well as other human beings, live, not the Spirit of Jesus. I acknowledge the inconsistency between what I aim to be and what I am.
And, I'll assent to your penultimate sentence.
But your last sentence, a bit of emotional frippery on your part, I simply deny. There is no justification, under God, for myself, apart from the fact I exist as part of the creation. But, I am.
TSTOCK, you've raised my ire. But you've given me things to think about, and for that I thank you.
It's hard for any human to even come close to living up to the standards of the man from Galilee. But any accusation of falseness in the attempt is worth consideration.
It's hard for any human to even come close to living up to the standards of the man from Galilee. But any accusation of falseness in the attempt is worth consideration.
Iran nor North Korea are any real threat to America's "homeland".
Iran is not enriching plutonium to bomb grade, and it would be decades and billions of dollars before they could.
Korea my have some crude atomic devices, but they can't get them anywhere. Even South KOrea isn't that worried about them.
Indeed it is much more likely a terrorist will slip a stolen atomic device into an American City than it is that a country will attack.
Even so, when they do that they will kill about the same number of people that we kill every year by allowing drunk drives on the roads of our nation. (Bad, yes, but not a cosmic catastrophy)
All of these guys are just "pest" and "varmits". We are burning down our house to rid ourselves of roaches. In a sense we are forfiting our very souls to rid ourselves of fleas.
Iran is not enriching plutonium to bomb grade, and it would be decades and billions of dollars before they could.
Korea my have some crude atomic devices, but they can't get them anywhere. Even South KOrea isn't that worried about them.
Indeed it is much more likely a terrorist will slip a stolen atomic device into an American City than it is that a country will attack.
Even so, when they do that they will kill about the same number of people that we kill every year by allowing drunk drives on the roads of our nation. (Bad, yes, but not a cosmic catastrophy)
All of these guys are just "pest" and "varmits". We are burning down our house to rid ourselves of roaches. In a sense we are forfiting our very souls to rid ourselves of fleas.
I guess I need to start reading Foreigh Affairs closer, and return to reading the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on-line again.
I forget sometimes that you can't believe a damn thing -- nopt a damn thing -- that comes out of this effing White House.
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I forget sometimes that you can't believe a damn thing -- nopt a damn thing -- that comes out of this effing White House.
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