Marines Kill Iraqi Civilians

Let's here again about how Iraq is not a quagmire. What happened in Haditha happened at My Lai over thirty years ago. When you put human beings in extremely stressful situations like those marines this is what you get.

It doesn't excuse it. They'll be punished. But let's not act like it never happened before and never will again. You have a war being run by a bunch of draft-dodging politicians who have never seen real combat.

There is a famous saying about George Bush and his fellow 'chickenhawks' Cheney, Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld, Elliot Abrams, William Frist, Dennis Hastert, et al. "Dulce bellum inexpertis."
"War is sweet for those who have not tried it."The saying dates to antiquity and is part of a compilation of Erasmus' Adagia made during the Renaissance.

A quagmire isn't determined by how many dead you suffer. It is about not being able to extract yourself from a mess. That is Iraq.

Kimberly Dozier

I noted with sadness today that Kimberly Dozier of CBS News was badly wounded in Iraq. Talk about fearless and smart. She, and the other female reporters, on the ground in Iraq stand in vivid and courageous contrast to all of the male reporters and commentators who shoot their mouth off safely in the U.S. I'm sure Chris Matthews, Keith Olberman, Wolf Blitzer and Sean Hannity, and Joe Scarborough will be applying for her job.

I'm not unaware that Bob Woodruff was also severely hurt trying to do a report. Nor that two other CBS men were killed in the explosion that hurt Dozier. But she has been in Baghdad for a mind-boggling three years doing the best reporting on Iraq that I've seen, and women reporters are the ones who are covering this war.

The Edward R. Murrows, Dan Rathers, Morley Safers', Peter Jennings', and Tom Brokaws and Bob Schieffers are gone from war coverage since Vietnam. Their male (eunuch) descendants on 24/7 news stay safely nestled in their studios shooting their mouths off without ever having lived or reported from Baghdad for an extended period of time.

Why Would Iran Ever Want A Nuclear Weapon?

Let's see. George Bush puts you (Iran) in his 'Axis of Evil' along with Iraq and North Korea. Then George Bush attacks Iraq. Then he starts to go after North Korea, another member of his 'Axis'.

North Korea, however, tells George that it has nuclear weapons capability. George decides to leave that part of the 'Axis' alone.

Iraq. No nuclear capabilities. Attacked.

North Korea. Nuclear capabilities. No attack. Diplomacy and incentives instead.

I'll never understand why Iran feels it has to have a nuclear weapons capability.

Congratulations Ray Nagin

Who better to put back in charge of the Titanic after it's already hit its first iceberg? As re-elected mayor of New Orleans, who once claimed the CIA might be out to get him, I'm sure you will maintain your steady hand on the rudder.

You were as cool as a mint julep as you declared there were 10,000 dead. When you set up your headquarters in the penthouse suite of a local hotel, you did a great job of leading by example. All of those people on rooftops should have been staying at your hotel. Had they only been sensible enought to follow your lead.

I have every confidence that you are the man to get all those poor people, who have a chance for a better life anywhere other than New Orleans, to return to the 9th ward. Then their children can someday look to an experienced hand like you to provide them with instructions on how to get to their rooftops from below sea level.

The Gospel of Judas

It's very interesting that for all the coverage of this new discovery, everyone avoids the most provocative question it raises. Did Christ manipulate Judas, and other events of the Passion, in order to make his death fulfill the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament?

SUV Patriots

Aren't they great? Driving down the highway in their 12 mpg SUV wasting gas with "Support our Troops" ribbons on their SUV's. Then whining about how much the price of gas is going up.

Tell that to the troops who are over in Iraq because you don't care enough about them to practice energy conservation. We need a draft back so the middle class has more of a stake (their own kids) in our next military adventure than just ribbon pasting.

Anonymous Bloggers

I received a perfectly legitimate comment from a blogger today. The only problem was that he or she didn't have the temerity to put a name to it. This is to let you know that, although I published your comment today, no other blogs without a name to back up their opinion will get on the blog again.

If you can't relate without anonymity, you need a Dale Carnegie class, not a blog.

Regards

Duh Vinci Code

I'm glad to see that the movie has come out. I'm sure it has all of the depth of research and metaphysical examination as the book, i.e., none. I think Homer Simpson could have come up with a better 'Code' than Dan Brown.

What's really great are the Christian ministers who say they are going to distinguish fact from fiction for their congregants. Of course, those same ministers have done more to spread superstition than any fictional novel.

Any minister who has told you to believe Revelation literally already has shown that he or she can't distinguish reality from fantasy any better than Dan Brown.

Bush speeches

Does anyone really listen to Bushs' speeches about anything anymore? If the Republicans stick with him they'll lose the H.R. for sure. At that point he might as well impeach himself.

He won't be able to pass gas, let alone legislation, once they start investigating his illegal and unconstitutional wiretapping of all those potential terrorists in Keokuk, Iowa and all the other nests of terrorism in the U.S.

His radio addresses sound like a little boy practicing reading with his mother. It's embarassin' to have the first president of the United States droppin' his 'g's while talkin' 'bout immigratin', legal or illegal. What a disgrace to the office.

Why rebuild New Orleans?

They should take the money they are going to use to reconstruct one of our largest urban ghettos and use it to relocate the African-American population to more integrated areas with better job opportunities.

Why rebuild a below sea-level 9th ward so that future black children can climb roofs after the levees break again. Why try to restore a ghetto that was the result of involuntary segregation dating back to the post-Reconstruction age? For sentimental reasons? Ridiculous.

Let nature do her job and stop trying to fight it for unproductive, sentimental, and political reasons.

Why Marshall Darts?

Because I throw rhetorical ones at our contemporary world. I'm also interested in ancient history, though not ancient fantasy. DaVinci Coders can abstain from posting their latest conspiracy theories about Opus Dei or the Kennedy assassination. Let us leave superstitions to the fiction writers and to believers in a literal Armaggedon.

Why I Decided to Blog

This is my first post. I freelance write and have been published in some major newspapers on bothcurrent and arcane issues, e.g., The Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Philadelphis Inquirer, etc. Some of my posts don't get published and I wanted a forum to publish them and correspond with other bloggers about the topic of each post. As you'll see, a lot of my views question conventional wisdom that I help will develop into interesting posts from you.