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SDR
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1538
Location: San Francisco
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 Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 7:31 pm Post subject: Lies and the Lying LiArs Who. . . |
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Military Judge Stands By Gitmo Dismissal
6/30/2007
By DAVID McFADDEN, Associated Press Writer
A military judge has refused a Pentagon request to reconsider his dismissal of charges against a Guantanamo Bay detainee accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan.
The judge, Army Col. Peter Brownback, ruled Friday that the government's renewed legal argument has not resolved a lack of jurisdiction in the case of Omar Khadr, a Canadian who was 15 when he was arrested on an Afghan battlefield in 2002.
Khadr is one of two detainees whose military trials fell apart because they were not identified as "unlawful" enemy combatants.
A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, said Saturday that the military is preparing to file a challenge to the Court of Military Commissions Review, a Washington-based appeals court that was set up within a week of the dismissal of the two detainees' charges on June 4.
"We're disappointed with the judge's decision in this matter," Gordon said.
Another judge who threw out the case against Yemeni detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan has not yet ruled on prosecutors' motion to reconsider, Gordon said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review whether Guantanamo Bay detainees can use federal courts to challenge their confinement, reversing an April decision not to hear arguments on the issue.
Like the rest of the detainee population, Khadr and Hamdan previously were identified by military review panels only as enemy combatants, lacking the "unlawful" designation required by the law that authorized the new trials. Pentagon officials have described the problem as largely semantics.
But the cases have dealt a blow to the Bush administration in its efforts to begin prosecuting dozens at the detention center in southeastern Cuba.
Last year, Republicans and the White House pushed through legislation authorizing the war-crimes trials after the Supreme Court threw out Bush's previous system as illegal and in violation of international treaties.
Khadr and Hamdan are the only ones currently in the roughly 380-prisoner population at Guantanamo who have been charged with crimes under a reconstituted military trial system.
One other detainee charged under the new system, Australian David Hicks, pleaded guilty in March to providing material support to al-Qaida and is serving a nine-month sentence in Australia.
Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Now, do you suppose the White House was waiting until the dying days of the administration to show the world what awful people they have locked up at their off-shore pokey ? Will this, too, be taken from them ?
SDR
_________________
"I'm the commander . . . see, I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation." GWB |
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Antisthenes
Joined: 28 Nov 2006
Posts: 494
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| Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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would it not be ironic the ones who made the war crimes trials would stand for them themselves?
_________________
The most necessary/useful piece of learning is that which unlearns what is untrue: 'evil'
may be acquired, Happiness through virtue which is based on knowledge!/? |
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SDR
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1538
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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We could only hope. . .!
SDR |
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Ed Ziomek
Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 440
Location: Stamford, Connecticut
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| Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 10:17 pm Post subject: Wiping the slate clean, and "The Day After Bush Leaves& |
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As repeated so many times on this website, and SDR's previous thread, the sad-tragic truism to me is "one more 9-12 event will wipe all the wrongs clean." This crew prays everyday for some magic bullet turnaround, no matter what. All the money would be "justified". All the blood sacrifice would be justified. All the civilian loss of life, justified...in their minds of course.
But notice how the military was forced (it wasn't their idea to begin with) to operate Guantanimo away from the peering eyes of the American CIVILIAN justice system? And notice how the foreign contractors have been used throughout (I heard in the press) 13 various countries? And the Congress has been bypassed? And the Supreme Court was bypassed as if it is irrelevant? And the opinions of the American people have been ignored?
We are experiencing a parallel government operating in Washington. This includes a parallel military structure not answerable to the Pentagon. ...and a parallel intelligence apparatus not part of the Homeland Security umbrella or the NSA/CIA/FBI. A parallel incarceration process. We are witnessing a parallel empire being built that will continue in operation long past the election.
Is its name Haliburton? Is its head Cheney? Nobody knows for sure.
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Ed Ziomek |
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yellowndgreen
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 6
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| Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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| a fairly powerless feeling |
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SDR
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1538
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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I think today's column by Robert Scheer puts together some useful facts and comparisons:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/07/11/EDGNNQ4VKD1.DTL&type=printable
SDR
_________________
"I'm the commander . . . see, I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation." GWB |
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Antisthenes
Joined: 28 Nov 2006
Posts: 494
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:33 am Post subject: |
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today:
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CIA Sees Iraq Situation “Irreversible”
The Washington Post is reporting internal CIA assessments of the Iraqi government have differed sharply from public statements by President Bush and other top officials. In November of last year, CIA Director Michael Hayden told a meeting of the Iraq Study Group the Iraqi government is “unable to govern” and “cannot function.” He described the situation as “irreversible.” Hayden’s comments came just hours after President Bush appeared before the same panel to give a starkly different picture.
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he lies again.
_________________
The most necessary/useful piece of learning is that which unlearns what is untrue: 'evil'
may be acquired, Happiness through virtue which is based on knowledge!/? |
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SDR
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1538
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 5:51 pm Post subject: |
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Excerpt
"Where Have All the Leaders Gone?"
By Lee Iacocca with Catherine Whitney
Had Enough?
Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course."
Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!
You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don't need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?
I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.
My friends tell me to calm down. They say, "Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people." I'd love to—as soon as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay attention. I'm going to speak up because it's my patriotic duty. I think people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight shooter. So I'll tell you how I see it, and it's not pretty, but at least it's real. I'm hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote because they don't trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey, America, wake up. These guys work for us.
Who Are These Guys, Anyway?
Why are we in this mess? How did we end up with this crowd in Washington? Well, we voted for them—or at least some of us did. But I'll tell you what we didn't do. We didn't agree to suspend the Constitution. We didn't agree to stop asking questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason. Where I come from that's a dictatorship, not a democracy.
And don't tell me it's all the fault of right-wing Republicans or liberal Democrats. That's an intellectually lazy argument, and it's part of the reason we're in this stew. We're not just a nation of factions. We're a people. We share common principles and ideals. And we rise and fall together.
Where are the voices of leaders who can inspire us to action and make us stand taller? What happened to the strong and resolute party of Lincoln? What happened to the courageous, populist party of FDR and Truman? There was a time in this country when the voices of great leaders lifted us up and made us want to do better. Where have all the leaders gone?
The Test of a Leader
I've never been Commander in Chief, but I've been a CEO. I understand a few things about leadership at the top. I've figured out nine points—not ten (I don't want people accusing me of thinking I'm Moses). I call them the "Nine Cs of Leadership." They're not fancy or complicated. Just clear, obvious qualities that every true leader should have. We should look at how the current administration stacks up. Like it or not, this crew is going to be around until January 2009. Maybe we can learn something before we go to the polls in 2008. Then let's be sure we use the leadership test to screen the candidates who say they want to run the country. It's up to us to choose wisely.
So, here's my C list:
A leader has to show CURIOSITY. He has to listen to people outside of the "Yes, sir" crowd in his inner circle. He has to read voraciously, because the world is a big, complicated place. George W. Bush brags about never reading a newspaper. "I just scan the headlines," he says. Am I hearing this right? He's the President of the United States and he never reads a newspaper? Thomas Jefferson once said, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter." Bush disagrees. As long as he gets his daily hour in the gym, with Fox News piped through the sound system, he's ready to go.
If a leader never steps outside his comfort zone to hear different ideas, he grows stale. If he doesn't put his beliefs to the test, how does he know he's right? The inability to listen is a form of arrogance. It means either you think you already know it all, or you just don't care. Before the 2006 election, George Bush made a big point of saying he didn't listen to the polls. Yeah, that's what they all say when the polls stink. But maybe he should have listened, because 70 percent of the people were saying he was on the wrong track. It took a "thumping" on election day to wake him up, but even then you got the feeling he wasn't listening so much as he was calculating how to do a better job of convincing everyone he was right.
A leader has to be CREATIVE, go out on a limb, be willing to try something different. You know, think outside the box. George Bush prides himself on never changing, even as the world around him is spinning out of control. God forbid someone should accuse him of flip-flopping. There's a disturbingly messianic fervor to his certainty. Senator Joe Biden recalled a conversation he had with Bush a few months after our troops marched into Baghdad. Joe was in the Oval Office outlining his concerns to the President—the explosive mix of Shiite and Sunni, the disbanded Iraqi army, the problems securing the oil fields. "The President was serene," Joe recalled. "He told me he was sure that we were on the right course and that all would be well. 'Mr. President,' I finally said, 'how can you be so sure when you don't yet know all the facts?'" Bush then reached over and put a steadying hand on Joe's shoulder. "My instincts," he said. "My instincts." Joe was flabbergasted. He told Bush, "Mr. President, your instincts aren't good enough." Joe Biden sure didn't think the matter was settled. And, as we all know now, it wasn't.
Leadership is all about managing change—whether you're leading a company or leading a country. Things change, and you get creative. You adapt. Maybe Bush was absent the day they covered that at Harvard Business School.
A leader has to COMMUNICATE. I'm not talking about running off at the mouth or spouting sound bites. I'm talking about facing reality and telling the truth. Nobody in the current administration seems to know how to talk straight anymore. Instead, they spend most of their time trying to convince us that things are not really as bad as they seem. I don't know if it's denial or dishonesty, but it can start to drive you crazy after a while. Communication has to start with telling the truth, even when it's painful. The war in Iraq has been, among other things, a grand failure of communication. Bush is like the boy who didn't cry wolf when the wolf was at the door. After years of being told that all is well, even as the casualties and chaos mount, we've stopped listening to him.
A leader has to be a person of CHARACTER. That means knowing the difference between right and wrong and having the guts to do the right thing. Abraham Lincoln once said, "If you want to test a man's character, give him power." George Bush has a lot of power. What does it say about his character? Bush has shown a willingness to take bold action on the world stage because he has the power, but he shows little regard for the grievous consequences. He has sent our troops (not to mention hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens) to their deaths—for what? To build our oil reserves? To avenge his daddy because Saddam Hussein once tried to have him killed? To show his daddy he's tougher? The motivations behind the war in Iraq are questionable, and the execution of the war has been a disaster. A man of character does not ask a single soldier to die for a failed policy.
A leader must have COURAGE. I'm talking about balls. (That even goes for female leaders.) Swagger isn't courage. Tough talk isn't courage. George Bush comes from a blue-blooded Connecticut family, but he likes to talk like a cowboy. You know, My gun is bigger than your gun. Courage in the twenty-first century doesn't mean posturing and bravado. Courage is a commitment to sit down at the negotiating table and talk.
If you're a politician, courage means taking a position even when you know it will cost you votes. Bush can't even make a public appearance unless the audience has been handpicked and sanitized. He did a series of so-called town hall meetings last year, in auditoriums packed with his most devoted fans. The questions were all softballs.
To be a leader you've got to have CONVICTION—a fire in your belly. You've got to have passion. You've got to really want to get something done. How do you measure fire in the belly? Bush has set the all-time record for number of vacation days taken by a U.S. President—four hundred and counting. He'd rather clear brush on his ranch than immerse himself in the business of governing. He even told an interviewer that the high point of his presidency so far was catching a seven-and-a-half-pound perch in his hand-stocked lake.
It's no better on Capitol Hill. Congress was in session only ninety-seven days in 2006. That's eleven days less than the record set in 1948, when President Harry Truman coined the term do-nothing Congress. Most people would expect to be fired if they worked so little and had nothing to show for it. But Congress managed to find the time to vote itself a raise. Now, that's not leadership.
A leader should have CHARISMA. I'm not talking about being flashy. Charisma is the quality that makes people want to follow you. It's the ability to inspire. People follow a leader because they trust him. That's my definition of charisma. Maybe George Bush is a great guy to hang out with at a barbecue or a ball game. But put him at a global summit where the future of our planet is at stake, and he doesn't look very presidential. Those frat-boy pranks and the kidding around he enjoys so much don't go over that well with world leaders. Just ask German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who received an unwelcome shoulder massage from our President at a G-8 Summit. When he came up behind her and started squeezing, I thought she was going to go right through the roof.
A leader has to be COMPETENT. That seems obvious, doesn't it? You've got to know what you're doing. More important than that, you've got to surround yourself with people who know what they're doing. Bush brags about being our first MBA President. Does that make him competent? Well, let's see. Thanks to our first MBA President, we've got the largest deficit in history, Social Security is on life support, and we've run up a half-a-trillion-dollar price tag (so far) in Iraq. And that's just for starters. A leader has to be a problem solver, and the biggest problems we face as a nation seem to be on the back burner.
You can't be a leader if you don't have COMMON SENSE. I call this Charlie Beacham's rule. When I was a young guy just starting out in the car business, one of my first jobs was as Ford's zone manager in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. My boss was a guy named Charlie Beacham, who was the East Coast regional manager. Charlie was a big Southerner, with a warm drawl, a huge smile, and a core of steel. Charlie used to tell me, "Remember, Lee, the only thing you've got going for you as a human being is your ability to reason and your common sense. If you don't know a dip of horseshit from a dip of vanilla ice cream, you'll never make it." George Bush doesn't have common sense. He just has a lot of sound bites. You know—Mr.they'll-welcome-us-as-liberators-no-child-left-behind-heck-of-a-job-Brownie-mission-accomplished Bush.
Former President Bill Clinton once said, "I grew up in an alcoholic home. I spent half my childhood trying to get into the reality-based world—and I like it here."
I think our current President should visit the real world once in a while.
The Biggest C is Crisis
Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.
On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. Where was George Bush? He was reading a story about a pet goat to kids in Florida when he heard about the attacks. He kept sitting there for twenty minutes with a baffled look on his face. It's all on tape. You can see it for yourself. Then, instead of taking the quickest route back to Washington and immediately going on the air to reassure the panicked people of this country, he decided it wasn't safe to return to the White House. He basically went into hiding for the day—and he told Vice President Dick Cheney to stay put in his bunker. We were all frozen in front of our TVs, scared out of our wits, waiting for our leaders to tell us that we were going to be okay, and there was nobody home. It took Bush a couple of days to get his bearings and devise the right photo op at Ground Zero.
That was George Bush's moment of truth, and he was paralyzed. And what did he do when he'd regained his composure? He led us down the road to Iraq—a road his own father had considered disastrous when he was President. But Bush didn't listen to Daddy. He listened to a higher father. He prides himself on being faith based, not reality based. If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, I don't know what will.
A Hell of a Mess
So here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.
But when you look around, you've got to ask: "Where have all the leaders gone?" Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, competence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.
Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.
Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time.
Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when "the Big Three" referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen—and more important, what are we going to do about it?
Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.
I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bobblehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?
Had Enough?
Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope. I believe in America. In my lifetime I've had the privilege of living through some of America's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises—the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Kennedy assassination, the Vietnam War, the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this: You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to action for people who, like me, believe in America. It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the horseshit and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had enough.
Excerpted from "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?" Copyright © 2007 by Lee Iacocca. All rights reserved. |
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Ed Ziomek
Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 440
Location: Stamford, Connecticut
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| Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 5:58 pm Post subject: Finally, some truth....Barack Obama.... |
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In the last few days, I heard on Fox News, "Fear and Bias" or "Fair and Balanced?"...that 3 Generals have requested that the American troops need till next summer to make a difference!
And I ask, "Difference, For what?" More lies, more stall, more delays, more killing...please!
But a silver lining, reported via Yahoo News... and Phillip Elliot and the Associated Press...Obama: Don't stay in Iraq over genocide
SUNAPEE, N.H. - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday the United States cannot use its military to solve humanitarian problems and that preventing a potential genocide in Iraq isn't a good enough reason to keep U.S. forces there.
"Well, look, if that's the criteria by which we are making decisions on the deployment of U.S. forces, then by that argument you would have 300,000 troops in the Congo right now — where millions have been slaughtered as a consequence of ethnic strife — which we haven't done," Obama said in an interview with The Associated Press."
Thank you Mr. Obama! From my deepest sincerity, thank you for these comments!
These wonderfully true comments echo the previous comments of Pat Tilman's brother who said in 2005 (paraphrased)..."Don't let the deaths of American soldiers be the reason why more American soldiers should die."
Of course, Pat Tilman was killed by friendly fire in 2004 in Afghanistan. And 3630 other Americans have died up to today, in Iraq. And half a million Iraqis. Not mentioning the million+ wounded, and the 3 million refugees.
Thank you Mr. Obama. This is leadership when we need it!
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Richard Haut
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 1055
Location: Nice, France
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| Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 12:29 am Post subject: |
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Obama puts it very well - using US casualties as the excuse for more US casualties is no answer to anything.
Britain however is in a much more serious situation. According to General Sir Richard Dannatt Britain has almost no reserves left - just 500 troops (source: the Daily Telegraph, UK). Britain has no army to defend the British Isles. Since it has also been reported that British casualty rates in Afghanistan are nearly 10%, it is obvious that Britain's military committments are heading for failure.
Yet during the last week, Britain has been threatening Russia. In a faked up "incident", Britain decided that Russian Tupolov Bear bombers were heading for its air space. The RAF scrambled to meet the "threat". The RAF managed to get just two fighters airborne. The Russian planes were TU-95's which regularly fly off Norway's airspace (source: Pravda, Russia). So why is Gordon Brown's Britain threatening Russia ? Because America requires Europe to buy its rubbishy and untested missile defence shield. Britain therefore has to portray Russia as an enemy and a threat. A rather stupid thing for an undefended country to do.
Bush of course has now assumed dictatorial powers (under his latest executive orders). And that shows the real problem: Americans reasonably assume that there will be a 2008 Election. Under the Bush/Cheney regime, there is no need. They now have the power to waive such trivia.
It has been revealed on the basis of senior official testimony that Richard Cheney gave the order for US fighters to stand down on 9.11.2001. According to a senior official of the Reagan administration, the Bush/Cheney gang are planning to orchestrate the "next 9.11" themselves.
And yet people still point at little Israel. Vicious to its neighbours certainly, but if a tiny and handout dependent nation can indeed influence policy in a powerful nation of three hundred million, then it is the fault of America that such a position has arisen. But why is Israel so desparate ? We all know that there is no chance of any serious attack by any of Israel's neighbours unless Israel instigates a conflict. The answer lies in the statistics (source: Haaretz, Israel). Of an available Israeli working population, only 58% actually work.
Americans like Obama assume that America will be able to withdraw its troops. That situation may not last much longer.
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Richard Haut has worked with the architectural profession for over 25 years and produces the weekly Richard Haut's Competitions, which has given architects details of many thousands of projects for which they can apply across Britain and Europe. |
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Ed Ziomek
Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 440
Location: Stamford, Connecticut
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| Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:01 am Post subject: Lee Iacocca Asks... What Next? Pakistan Invasion? |
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So many amazing good comments here, this thread and the twin are like a historical step by step on America's quagmire...
But Rich and SDR and antithenes... since nothing makes sense anymore, and the inmates have taken over our government, it seems, what in the realm of insanity makes America talk about invading Pakistan, to offer military assistance?
Iran...yes, that would have been another disaster, another million dead...oh, now they decide to talk instead! Gee whiz, what a concept!
But to even TALK about sending military troops into Pakistan?!?!
ARE WE STARK RAVING LUNATICS??? Answer: No, we are WORSE!!!
Lee Iacocca...can HE run for President???
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Ed Ziomek |
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Richard Haut
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 1055
Location: Nice, France
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| Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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Ed, it really is amazing, isn't it ?
Brown has said that the option of Britain being involved in attacking Iran is not off the table (it was before, but he seems to have put it back), while - as you say - America causes blank amazement by threatening to attack Pakistan.
Pakistan is of course a "friend" of America, and a nuclear power.
You wondered a while ago who is really in charge. The frightening thought is that perhaps nobody is really in charge. When the lunatics take over the asylum, there is no point in calling for the nurse. It's every lunatic for themselves.
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Richard Haut has worked with the architectural profession for over 25 years and produces the weekly Richard Haut's Competitions, which has given architects details of many thousands of projects for which they can apply across Britain and Europe. |
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Ed Ziomek
Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 440
Location: Stamford, Connecticut
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| Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:30 pm Post subject: Two steps back, let me take a breath here.... |
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There is so much going on in the last week, and the upcoming weeks, it is hard to pinpoint, "where to start" with things that haven't been already said.
I suppose the crisis of the moment is still Iraq, and the article today from Robert Novak about America maneuvering with the Turkish government against the Kurdish guerilla incursions out of Iraq, into Turkey, using American weapons! It never ends.
Let me step back and mention Hillary Clinton's comments against Barack Obama, in the You-Tube debate, using the catch phrase "irresponsible and naive".
Barack's comeback was a reminder that her actions in voting for Iraq were also irresponsible and naive...(hope I got that right).
I think that moment will end one politicians bid for President, and I will let you figure it out who I mean.
What is right with America, and what is wrong with America? We are a wounded, divided nation right now. Individually, we are strong, but collectively we are divided. Like Lee Iacocca asked..."Where have all the leaders gone?" Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, competence, and common sense?"
One of the candidates has a reputation as being divisive. One (or several) of the candidates has a reputation as a flip flopper.
In that heartbeat of a comment, what happened amongst two of the same party? How can a person seek the Presidency when that person is throwing rocks at her own party? Do I need a rock thrower for a President?
I was told of the book...Team of Rivals" The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin, where Abe was elected President, then hired all his political rivals as Cabinet members, to make it through the most difficult time of the young America!
Is there an Abe Lincoln candidate out there who will stand up and say..."Don't ask me liberal questions, or conservative questions... I am here as a candidate to represent the AMERICAN PEOPLE, A-L-L the American people, and I won't answer questions that divide my precious people against each other, the people that I will serve, and I won't throw stones at my fellow candidates who WE ALL NEED, in this GRAVE TIME OF NEED, for America!"
Will Honest Abe Lincoln please stand up, or is he already here? [/u]
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Ed Ziomek |
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SDR
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1538
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:55 pm Post subject: |
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Yes -- that is the kind of person we need, now, and ever. Such old-fashioned virtues -- long gone ? Let's hope not.
The twenty-four hour news cycle, the dollar-driven election process, and many other modern facts of life, have been blamed for the current state of ineffectual, not to say disingenuous, leaders. Is it too late ?
SDR
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"I'm the commander . . . see, I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation." GWB |
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Ed Ziomek
Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 440
Location: Stamford, Connecticut
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| Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 8:14 pm Post subject: Heard it for the first time... |
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We heard the Petraeus speech requesting more time. To prove what? I don't know. At what lives lost? I can only nightmare about.
Et tu Petraeus? But he is an honorable man, and I disagree with an honorable man.
We heard the Ahemedinejad's speech at Columbia today, and I think I could thank him for keeping the hostages alive in Teheran, and I think I could accuse him of supporting Hezbollah in the killing of Americans and Lebanese and probably Iraqis.
So we have chaos in a complicated world.
But tonight I heard a radio interview with a Presidential candidate, not a front runner, and it makes everything real simple. In short, with a calm voice, and quick anecdotal answers he explained (paraphrased)...
"If Americans believe I can give them a better America, then I will do all I can to do so. And if Americans believe someone else can give them a better America, then I will join these other Americans to make a better America." or something like that.
No name calling. No Democrats do this, and Republicans do that. Just, America together can do great things, and I want to help them do great things.
Amazing. Stand up and cheer.
Maybe Abe Lincoln just walked onto the stage.
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Ed Ziomek |
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