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March 10, 2003
Polls:
We noticed another poll on the tube last night. It seems the
people are still approving of the President, although not as
much as before. They still want to go to war, but not as much
as before. Did you ever wonder about those polls? They give these
polls on TV often. What they do not say is how they conducted
the poll. I wonder, for example, if they ever ask the question,
did you vote in the last election? Another question, do you ever
vote? Do they ever ask the pregnant question, the one which determines
how important the poll answers are? If, for example, Joe Jerk
never votes why does it matter if he favors war or not? We will
find out how good the polls were in the next election. Does anyone
remember Tom Dewey?
William:
Selling Out:
Some Americans are still getting confused about what constitutes
legitimate protest and what constitutes treason. Ramsey Clark
shows us a recent example. Giving active aid, comfort, and support
to enemies of the United States is treason not protest. This
man has sold out his country by acting and speaking against it
in our enemy's territory. Protest is speaking out, not selling
out. We do that in America where the government can hear and
know our opinion, not in Iraq. If our protest is valid and enough
of us do it, we can influence the government.
Lest you choose to misunderstand me, I am vigorously against
going to war against Iraq. I protest long and loud every chance
I get. It is not because I think Hussein is a nice guy. He is
an evil monster. Any damn fool can see that. I am against a war
with Iraq because we haven't finished with Afghanistan yet and
we are spread too thin. The last few administrations have let
our military capability degenerate to a pitiful shadow of what
it once was.
We no longer have the manpower or the tools for a multi-front
war. We have 200,000 troops in the Iraq area and half of them
are reservists. That is the state of our standing army at this
time. It is nothing less than foolhardy to start a war without
being prepared and we are not prepared. The madman in the White
House is counting on a quick war. Then he will most likely betray
the Iraq people and turn the country over to another tribe. What
if it is not a quick war? What if the other tribe turns out to
be as criminally inclined as Hussein's tribe?
So, by all means, let us protest and try to influence the
administration in favor of reason. Let us beg them to eschew
rabid behavior in favor of thoughtful analysis. But, let us not
sell out our country to the Butcher of Baghdad. Let's just keep
him busy and sort of honest with qualified inspectors until we
finish with Afghanistan. Then we can go in, clean his clock,
and set up a military government to bring democracy to Iraq.
That is what we should be doing in Afghanistan now. It will save
us having to fight the same war over again every ten years.
Gaffer:
The Security Council:
They have been frustrating the heck out of George, because they
won't rubber stamp his war plans. This chamber is a classic of
bureaucratic diddling. It is just a room full rabble with a couple
of thoughtful people. Some of them, like France have been against
us from the get go. France just does not like us and never has,
probably never will. They love to tweak the Eagles tail feathers.
Others will be on our side for the right bribe. George keeps
telling them what he thinks they have to do. Shouldn't he know
that children and childish people will only defy you when you
tell them what they ought to do. Drawing lines in the sand is
something you do with your enemies, not with people whose support
you need.
Gaffer:
Energy:
Bush is preparing for a war. The cost of crude oil is going into
space. The cost of gasoline is already in space and rising. According
to ABC news this will precipitate a recession. I wonder how a
recession is defined. I wonder how it is different from a depression.
I figure a depression would be when my kids were in danger of
being hungry. That would terrify me. The bureaucrats can sit
in there marble halls in Washington and mince words. I look around
my village and notice some people who look scared. These people
are not scared for themselves. The are scared for their kids.
For them, this is a depression. Someone should read history.
Someone should remember Herbert Hoover rather than repeat his
failure.
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