Sunday, January 29, 2006

Civil War

I read 18 blogs daily. Some may find that excessive, or light. For the most part, they are conservative oriented. I try the liberal side regularly but I can't deal with the raving lunatics in the comments every day.

One blogger has an excellent piece in which he complains that Democrats are all Ahabs. Democrats can only see the world through a Bush hating looking glass. But all the conservatives see when looking at liberals is Bush hating. Is it really any different?

We are in a 'civil' war. No one is shooting guns at the otherside, but it has all the characteristics of a war. Verbal assaults are launched, from the MSM or blogsphere. Damage is assessed, skirmishes deemed won or lost. Neither side has the high ground, though both can and do claim it. (I purposely left out the word moral from that sentence and if you don't immediately understand why...you may be a combatant).

Anyone caught even suggesting there might be some underlying truth to the position of the otherside is considered treasonous. Doubts among the faithful are quashed by a need to utterly defend their side from the overwhelming assault from opposition at any sign of weakness.

Frankly, I would have been blissfully unaware but for the bankruptcy law passage last year. Everything about the effort to pass that law was wrong. Hell, I agreed with and quoted TED KENNEDY. How many other laws and bills before the various democratic institutions in this country THAT DO NOT AFFECT ME IN ANYWAY, are flat out wrong? Are bad for the very people our representatives are sworn to protect?

In every war we have our Lt Calleys. Our Cindy Sheehans. They are nothing to be proud of or to dismiss as aberrations. War brings out the best, and worst of us. This 'civil' war we are in, blame it on Bush. Not because he is causing the war, but because he is like most moral people, a lightning rod for everyone that sees only shades of grey. Unfortunately for some, fortunately for most, he is the President. He would not gather such storms in a lesser position.

The few people that try to avoid the conflict, to engage in dialogue, are quickly marginalized or overwhelmed with verbal artillery. From my position safe far from the battlegrounds (the ten or so people that read this blog have been a quiet bunch), I can observe and comment. But further away, across oceans, others observe more closely and with less good will. 'Civil' war in the US is good for them and as long as we are distracted by each other, they will continue to wage their own not so civil wars.

Friday, January 20, 2006

The left and Iran

You have got to be kidding?!

The Left (lead by Sen Clinton) is accusing Bush of fumbling Iran....(wait for it)...by letting diplomacy by the UN and EU to run for two years, thereby allowing Iran to get that much closer to WMD.

Elenor Cliff in 2002: "They elected a wuss but got a cowboy."
Elenor Cliff in 2006: "They elected a cowboy but got a wuss."

Or was that a movie?

Where the hell are all the protest marches calling for unilateral action against Iran? Where is all the clamoring for a draft to protect us?

Where the hell is the EU? France, FRANCE for god sake has said it will respond with it's own nuclear weapons if provoked...

If this is deja vu, I want NEO.

Self esteem and the education system

One of our favorite TV shows is American Idol. The three of us pick who we like and don't like and pit ourselves against the judges. On Wednesday, on contestant just couldn't believe that the judges did not like her....she thought she was good...a 6 out of 10 - for a couple of mistakes. Simon gave her a .5 out of 10. Another, Zachary was, also disappointed because the judges were prejudice that a man couldn't sing with the same range as a woman on a "woman's song". None of the judges could get a handle on whether it was a man pretending to be a woman being a man or what. The vocal effort was well below any possibility of moving on (Paula's comment).

Ladies and gentlemen: In this ring, 16-25 year olds with no clue they suck. Why you might ask do they not know they suck? Well, no one told them! That would hurt their self esteem. Better they think they are great so that when they are faced with the REAL WORLD, they can stare dumbfounded at the unfairness of it.

And, as I was contemplating this little missive, I heard a story on the radio. A woman was complaining about the school system her children were in. Her second grader came home with a report card and in the comments section were these two gems:

[childs name] is having problems in sciance. (not my misspelling....the teachers)

and..

She is also having a difficult time communicating, both orally and writtenly.


It is a wonder we have any students capable of college work.

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Ya gotta laugh...

Throughout my life I have suggested that the only real response people should have towards others so wrong in their positions or outlook is to laugh at them.

In all earnestness, we speak to the UN, to the EU, to the democrats, attempting to get our point of view across while accepting the validity of their point of view. Yet, they make no such attempt to respect our point of view....dismissing it is the best they do, denigration being the usual response.

All the posturing this past week by the Democrats and their supporters against Alito (and his wife) was not respectful, even at the margins. No matter how many pointed out the abject lameness, the "Left" stood proud for its positions. It was so utterly lame, ya gotta laugh...

The EU has had their posturing about our "unilateralism" on Iraq thrown back in their face by Iran. Two years of 'negotiations' and as pointed out here, only the Iranians have moved their agenda forward. Ya gotta laugh at their stupidity.

The UN is a joke. No matter how much John Bolton tries, every time the UN enters the public arena, the result just makes you laugh...

Come on...laugh at them. They were, and are, a joke.

You may suggest that the seriousness of the issues is no laughing matter and I would agree, I am not laughing at the issues. We need serious, thoughtful opposition in all arenas if we as a species are to survive and prosper, it is also quite clear that the Democrats, the UN and the EU do not offer such.

And since I am not left leaning....I can't cry....

Monday, January 09, 2006

Politics as usual

Can it be that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely? Where have I heard that before? If the GOP were out of power right now they would be howling, gnashing teeth and pulling hair out of their heads at the BLATANT crap currently going on in Congress....yet...yet...the best we have seen so far is a hunkering down and hope that it will blow over with minimal impact on fundraising efforts in this, oh so important, election year.

The only reason, THE ONLY REASON, we have not seen a mass exodus from the republican ranks to support Democrats is because the current democrat leadership is staffed with raving lunatics.

Only in an asylum would ANYONE take Dean, Pelosi and Reid seriously.

So those of us with a desire to see minimal government, strong defense and fiscal responsibility are left with nothing.

If we can get 50 million Americans to agree with us that things need fixing so bad that political loyalty can be left on the sacrificial alter of lobbyists, then we can correct things in 4 years. Vote every single incumbent - ALL OF THEM - out of office this November, .and do it again in two years, and again two years later. The result would be an completely knew crop of politicians. Of course we have the problem of the bureaucracy, .the "true" power in Washington. The easiest way to deal with them is to give all legislative and executive branch bureaucratic managers (mid-level and up) 4 year, non-renewable contracts (offset to all elections).