Tuesday, May 18, 2004

And so it begins....   As a former combat infantryman in World War II, I've always believed we must fully support our troops. Reluctantly, I now believe the best way to support troops in Iraq is to bring them home, starting with the "hand-over" on June 30. Only a carefully planned withdrawal can clean up the biggest military mess miscreated in the Oval Office and miscarried by the Pentagon in my 80-year lifetime. In Journalese, the traditional five Ws of Who, What, When, Where, Why: Who? George W. Bush. What? His cowboy culture. Ride fast and alone or with just a few buddies. Shoot first. Ask questions later. When? After 9/11. Bush bravely took on a necessary fight against terrorists who attacked us. But then he diverted his attention to an unrelated and unnecessary "pre-emptive" war. Where? Iraq. He led us astray by falsely claiming Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that threatened us. After the "Mission Accomplished" boast in May 2003, he put our troops in new jeopardy by taunting terrorists from other countries with his "Bring 'em on!" challenge last July 2. His anything-goes-against-the-bad-guys attitude and his total lack of postwar planning helped prompt the ongoing prison-abuse embarrassments and brutal retaliations. Why? Because he believes he can be re-elected as a tough-talking, self-proclaimed "War President." Maybe Bush should take a cue from a fellow Texan, former president Lyndon Baines Johnson, who also had some cowboy characteristics. LBJ, after mismanaging the Vietnam War that so bitterly divided the nation and the world, decided he owed it to his political party and to his country not to run for re-election. So, he turned tail and rode off into the sunset of his Texas ranch. How do you say déjà vu in Cowboyese? Al Neuharth, founder of USAToday, USAToday opinion on 5/13/04 10:18:57 PM

Food for thought here are some interesting reads that are out there right now: One, on why the dynamic of same-sex marriage will be the opposite of the struggle for abortion rights. Quick synop: Once the right to abortion was one, and back alley abortions receded into the fog of memory, the right itself grew to be an abstraction for most people in the mushy middle -- no wives, daughters, mothers dieing needlessly to remind them. On the contrary, with same-sex marriage, up till now it has been an abstraction, now that people are being wed--neighbors, coworkers, relatives--it should bring home to people how nonthreatening and natural it is to want to be able to share one's live with one's loved one... it is the religious bigots who will lose out on this one. The other, an interesting fictional piece on the Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012. This is a thoughtful rumination on the dangers of trends already present in how military service has evolved over the past quarter century, by a military officer named Charles Dunlap. Give it a quick perusal, it's short and provocative... and it is currently the rage among the officer corps.  7:44:52 PM

Feeling our way towards a draft... ...by putting inactive reserves in the line of fire. I didn't realize what it meant to be an inactive reserve. Apparently when you sign up, it is for eight years regardless, but you negotiate on how many of those are active. So once you go inactive, it is pretty much like leaving the army--until now. Read more here. Oh, and by the way, the Army plans to amend the law that prevents them from using IRS data to track down inactive folks who have moved during their inactive status. Sweet, draging away civilians from their jobs, families, and settled lives via a previously privacy-protected national database... Is that jackboots I hear? Gee, I don't remember them doing that to track down George aWol Bush during Vietnam. 7:36:12 PM

Lies that kill As the saying goes... Clinton lied, no one died; Bush lied, people died... or were maimed or made gravely ill for the rest of their lives Read how deliberate political decision to mislead people concerning the toxicity of the dust caused by the collapse of the twin towers led people to neglect simple safety precautions and has resulted in debilitating illnesses for thousands. But I guess they are all from Northeastern blue states, so who in the white house gives a flip, huh? 7:25:59 PM

Yet more must read material This memo shows how the conditions that led to abuse were hatched right in the White House... worries about war crimes? Why would they be worried about war crimes? 7:17:46 PM