I had to post something before I left. I just saw the footage from Israel with the Palestinian gunmen. The PLO needs to be stomped on and destroyed like vermin. Disgusting sewer trout.
Probably not goijng to be
Probably not goijng to be anymore posting until tomorrow night. I am off to Pittsburgh to celebrate a friend’s birthday, and hopefully to eat a couple of gut-bomb Primanti Brothers sandwiches. Then tomorrow, some shopping on the strip (I need pasta, cheeses, seafood, and some other good stuff), and then a relaxing day attached to the idiot box watching football. Until then..
Tim Cavanaugh can go here.
Tim Cavanaugh can go here.
Sarah Jane goes to jail.
Sarah Jane goes to jail. At last. Maybe in the 10 years to life she is behind bars, she will figure out what she did wrong, because at sentencing she stated this:
Following tearful statements from family and friends, Olson said she was “truly sorry” for causing anyone any pain.
But she denied trying to murder officers by planting bombs under the two police cars in 1975 to avenge the deaths of six SLA members during a shootout with authorities a year earlier. The bombs didn’t explode.
In other words, she pleaded guilty, but isn’t. Oh, those radical 60’s leftist martyrs. Gotta just love em.
Everyone needs to read this
Everyone needs to read this post, and then take five minutes, read it again, and then just think. Probably one of the most compelling and interesting posts I have ever read.
I am not sure what
I am not sure what the actual Geneva convention mandates are regarding the shaving of body hair, but it seems to me that it is a whole heck of a lot of fuss about not much. Sure the cable news channels are blazing headlines, some protests are happening in the UK, and the UN has piped up with their usual helpful stance (hint- the US sucks), but it seems to me that the main problem is a simple misunderstanding in how the military operates.
I thought about this on the drive home, sitting in traffic, watching all the drivers voluntarily doing what they were supposed to do- staying in the correct lane, stopping at red lights, yielding when appropriate, etc. To someone who does not know the rules of the road, it would seem utterly chaotic. But in fact, it is a monument to self-regulated order (sure there are police- but cops are focussing on the 5-10% of people who do not vuluntarily comply- the majority do). For those of you who have never spent a day in or near the military, the chief reason for its success is compliance to calls for order and discipline. It is simply how it functions. It may not seem orderly, and there is always that one quote (that I can never verify or track down) from the German General who said (and I paraphrase) “The reason the Americans are succesful in war is because war is chaos, and the American military practices chaos on a daily basis,” but by and large the military is EXCEPTIONALLY ordered.
Prior to joining the army, this was not clear, and many times in the army, it was unclear. But when you sit back and look, the necessity of order is abundantly evident. Sure, at time, I did not know why my platoon was told to do a specific act, but I did not have the complete picture, and could not witness from my vantage point the large symphony of coordinated action. The success of the mission depended on everyone doing what they were told to do, being where they were supposed to be, adhering to a sense of ORDER.
So when you read that they are shaving the heads of muslim POW’s, do not immediately assume that it is some politically incorrect slight attempted to humiliate them. That may be a pleasant by-product of the action, but I would take them at their word. They were acting on orders, to maintain and create some order out of a chaotic situation, and to alleviate the spread of lice. Good hygiene, pride in appearance are the very basic aspects of MILITARY ORDER. That is why they send young men away for three months, shave their heads, give them all the same color uniforms, and teach them ‘close order drill’ so that they can march in unison. Order, folks, the backbone of the military, the way our guys operate and function, the reason they are able to have such huge success under horrible circumstances (like being shot at when you have been awake for 4 days and are cold and hungry and in a country whose name you can notspell) is why the Army says they shaved their heads. And I, for one, believe them.
Last night I could not
Last night I could not sleep, so I did what I usually do to combat insomnia, I turned on C-Span. Unfortunately, the White House Press Briefing was on, and rather than falling asleep in ten words or less, I was immediately reduced to giggles. I think EVERY press secretary, regardless of administration, deserves a medal of honor for dealing with the ship of fools known as the White House Press Corps. Check out these exchanges:
Q I was going to ask you an Afghanistan question, but I’ll wait until tomorrow. Back to this — I want to make sure I understood the Enron question. You’re saying that the President is interested — the government is pursuing the Justice Department investigation and that, this broader thing of how to make sure that this doesn’t happen before. But that in the White House there is no effort being made to gather together the contacts?
I want to make sure I understand that, because that’s a rather novel way of managing a crisis and I want to make sure. Nobody is interested in who called Enron in this White House or in the government, and getting together those people, what did you tell them, so that you don’t know? But that if we find out about one of these calls, you’ll —
MR. FLEISCHER: Again, if you have any suggestion — and no one has — of any wrongdoing, I urge you, bring it forward, present it, ask it to me, ask of me on the record, ask it to be on background, ask it to me wherever you like, and we will do our best to track it down and find out.
But if you’re asking — if you’re asking if the White House is chronicling any contact with anybody in this administration and anybody at Enron over anything, I think that’s such a broad request that it’s characterized as a fishing expedition. But that’s exactly what the question is.
Q I’m not talking about any — I’m talking about when the company was in trouble, calls they made or did not make to the White House or the senior staff or the Cabinet. You’re telling me you don’t even want to know those calls that might have been made?
MR. FLEISCHER: Calls about what?
Q Help or anything. I don’t — I can’t —
MR. FLEISCHER: See, again, there you go, you’re asking me are we doing something that you can’t even define. You’re saying to me, are you engaged in a — hold it, hold it — you’re asking me are you engaged in a — I’m getting there.
You’re asking me, are you gathering information about any contact with Enron about what? Ask the question.
Q — financial position.
Q Communication.
MR. FLEISCHER: Exactly, any communication.
A little bit later, came this exchange, and it was hard to imagine that Ari Fleischer was thinking about anything other than someone’s head on a stake.
Q Two follow ups. One, is the President concerned that his buddies at Enron are going to jail?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President thinks that it is vital for the Department of Justice to pursue this wherever it goes, to whoever it goes and to do whatever it takes to investigate any criminal wrongdoing.
News- Fair and Balanced. Then came this exchange:
Q I’ll try to state this carefully so you don’t have to restate the question, you can just give me a “yes” or “no” if you can. Is the White House determining whether or not administration officials or White House aids have received any calls from Enron since the summer of 2001?
MR. FLEISCHER: On any topic, on anything?
Q That’s my question, have they received —
MR. FLEISCHER: On any topic, on anything?
Q Have they received any calls, are you guys determining whether or not White House officials or administration officials have received calls from Enron since the summer of 2001?
MR. FLEISCHER: Again, the standard the White House has put in place is that if you have any suggestion of any wrongdoing, as opposed to such a broad, open-ended question —
Q I’m asking whether or not you guys are determining whether these calls were made. I’m not asking you —
MR. FLEISCHER: “These” calls meaning which calls?
Q I’m asking you whether or not, yes or no —
MR. FLEISCHER: You said, “these calls.” Describe the calls.
Q — yes or not, is the administration determining who in this administration got calls from Enron in the last six or 10 months.
MR. FLEISCHER: About any — now it’s six or 10 months.
Q Since he summer of 2001.
MR. FLEISCHER: About any topic or anything? Again, the administration is interested, if anybody has any evidence of wrongdoing —
Q I’m asking yes or no —
MR. FLEISCHER: I think you’ve heard the answer.
Q No, no, I haven’t. I want to know if the White House cares enough about this to investigate?
MR. FLEISCHER: The White House views this as a matter of a criminal investigation and a policy review. And if somebody has a suggestion that something was wrong, it will be investigated and reviewed. But other than that, that is such a broad question about any topic, any conversation about anything.
What you’re saying is, communication in itself, that all communication in itself needs to be brought under scrutiny.
Q It’s a simple “yes” or “no.”
Q With all due respect, the question couldn’t be narrower. It’s “yes” or “no,” are you investigating who received these calls? You either are or you aren’t. I’m not asking you —
MR. FLEISCHER: Wrongdoing should be investigated. Communication — I want to again remind everybody here — communication —
Q So the answer is “no”?
Q Why won’t you say “yes” or “no”?
MR. FLEISCHER: Because it is not being handled in the way that I think you all are looking for it to be handled, because you’re trying to make comparisons to previous administrations. That is not the White House approach.