Letters to the Editor
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I'm doing fine, so all is well
I heard a speaker the other night who informed us that things are just fine in Kurdistan, the part of Iraq where he lives. What's a few people being blown up? It didn't happen to him; he's always well guarded. He associates solely with other Americans and English-speaking Kurds, who tell him what a great guy he is and how much they love America. And even he had to admit that most of Iraq was a mess.
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@CAGary
A petard is a small bomb (possible a landmine, as per Shakespeare) and/or a fart, and Lowry's hoisting is done entirely by Lowry's own little explosions.
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What Iraqi people?
Anonymous... I want the Iraqi people to win and the truth of the matter is that they don't win if we win.
Insurgencies win if they don't lose. Counterinsurgencies lose if they don't win.
There are no "Iraqi people". Iraq is an artificial state created by the British after WWI. Read about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq#British_Mandate_of_Mesopotamia
There are 3 major groups. Kurds, (a distinct ethnic and regional group), and Sunni and Shia Arabs, as well as many other smaller tribal and sectarian groups but there are no "Iraqi people" since we toppled Saddam.
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OT re: Abe Foxman
Paul Gottfried has an article up this morning about our friend Abe Foxman.
"An announcement received on my email indicates that Abraham Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, has been invited to Heritage Foundation on October 18 to deliver a “lecture” on “The Israeli Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control.” I also learned that the eminent Mr. Foxman is coming to Heritage to refute the Mearsheimer-Walt critique of AIPAC. He believes this controversial text reflects a widespread “myth” about “Jewish control” in America, a figment that is generated, according to Foxman, by rampant Christian anti-Semitism."
The full article:
http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/shame_on_heritage
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Slang
Why is it still ok to use slang for parts of the female anatomy to demean others? I agree that Lowry is scum.
pussy 1
n. pl. puss·ies
1. Informal A cat.
2. Botany A fuzzy catkin, especially of the pussy willow.
3. Vulgar Slang
a. The vulva.
b. Sexual intercourse with a woman.
4. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a woman.
5. Slang A man regarded as weak, timid, or unmanly.
scum
n.
1. A filmy layer of extraneous or impure matter that forms on or rises to the surface of a liquid or body of water.
2. The refuse or dross of molten metals.
3. Refuse or worthless matter.
4. Slang One, such as a person or an element of society, that is regarded as despicable or worthless.
Er...because the dictionary says it is ok. The dictionary doesn't seem to think that "pussy," used in that manner, is either "vulger" or "offensive." But then the dictionary is a giant phallus written by white men, so I see your point.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pussy
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Jim Montague @ Foxman
I know that Mr. Foxman's lecture will be on another subject, but wouldn't it also be a great opportunity for him to strongly present ADL's position regarding the Armenian Genocide, including the Congressional Bill in the news currently. I'm sure Mr. Foxman and ADL will want to strongly support the Bill.
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What's there to win?
The war's over and there's no real "surrender" option. The endless "we're winning" cheers from Lowry and colleagues are just propaganda to influence the average American into thinking that the troops should stay, since Americans are winners. The cheers are meant to tap into that right-wing bottomless well of shame and insecurity--being a "loser".
Of course, you don't 'win' an occupation the way you win a war, which is to say ending it. You end an occupation either by leaving the place or taking it over. You win an occupation, in as much as winning could mean doing something well enough that the best possible outcome happens, by establishing security and order and then helping to rebuild society.
The flip side to all the "we're winning" cheerleading is that they neglect, almost relentlessly, to tell the story of the historically incompetent occupation of Iraq and the massive failure to establish security and order or to rebuild Iraqi society (also known as losing the occupation).
Few have done such a disservice to America. Betraying their country, and their profession, in order to compensate for their own impotence, in order to satisfy their own fantasies for strength.
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@ Frankly, my dear
If I had a nickel for every time one of these pea-brained pundits has said "the next few/three/six months in Iraq will be crucial" I could probably build myself a country-sized embassy complex in Baghdad. If the US media were doing any kind of effective communication job, George W. Bush would be known around the world as "Bring 'em on Bush".
We now have a neologism, soon to enter the standard lexicon, I'd think, for this:
http://www.reference.com/search?q=friedman%20unit&r=d&db=web
Right next to fortnight....
Cheers,
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casual_observer
boy I sure wouldn't hold my breath on that one. L.A. Times reports this morning that even Jane Harman has withdrawn her support for the bill and has sent a letter to Tom Lantos indicating the need to reconsider and that any future vote by her will be a resounding no.
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@Jim Montague
Foxman was on PBS News Hour along with Mearsheimer last night and came across as the phony he is. He accused Mearsheimer of having no facts and then only using selective facts while Foxman presented nothing but rhetorical claims devoid of facts. With the recent use of pix by Glenn, I would have to say, seeing Foxman in living color, his image was very close to what I had imagined. Trust and humanity do not come to mind when seeing him live. Mearsheimer stayed very measured and made a sound case for the influence and damage done by the American Israel Lobby.
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Ondelette
A victory without the surge of hormones isn't a good enough victory. Find another game, more FX, more bodies, bigger bombs.
It's no wonder that these are the same people who keep getting busted succumbing to 'taboo' sexual behavior as well. Sex and violence seem to be located in very close proximity in their brains.
The really scary part of the real-war-as-video-game syndrome is that they probably think that if they lose, they can just put another quarter in and start over.
The 'Surge' is just the next level in this version of the game. The new game - "Iran: the Next Frontier" - is being advertised. Available at your local Kill R US soon.
No one can write like Bebop-o but your ramblings are right up there with the best of them here, IMO.