One thing PinF has tried not be is a political commentary forum. The one exception of course was my blog dated May 24th "Memorial Day +4". Other than this I have remained on the outside of the political arena regarding the foreign policy mess this country has found itself in.
I should now take the time to ask anyone who doesn't want to hear this to close my blog now. You're a George W supporter? You may want to leave. You support the war in Iraq? You might as well leave too.
I hate to sound cliche, but I too initially supported the mission and the vision put forth by the "W"hite House when we invaded to remove WMD's and chase the human right's abusing regime to hell. I was proud of the troops then, and I am proud of them now; probably more so now, since many of them leaving for the front lines actually have a clearer picture of what awaits them now, as opposed to the initial deployments. Yet through it all this "W"hite House seems to be watching a different news channel and reading different news reports of the day to day realities of our "experiment". Of course we have to "stay the course", what choice do we have now? We've literally stirred a hornet's nest of hatred in the muslim world that should reap years of hatred towards westerners in general, and Americans in specific.
Todays rant is brought to you by the letter "G" as in GA$. I pulled up to my local Amoco like I do every morning to get the Palm Beach Post, and inside is a guy bitching to Haji about the $2.67 per gallon price, to which Haji responded he is feeling it too, and will be closing his station. Now this guy bitching was a Rolex wearing, Jaguar driving, Palm Beach pimp of the "W" persuasion. I walked out behind him and a working class guy and listened as he continued to gripe about the gas to working class guy. Finally I said "thank George W", to which WCG said, "right on". Mr Jag, started jaw jacking about terrorists and "how someone" needed to do something about this..."...the standard non-sensical answer for spending $$$100BILLION$$$ dollars to screw up an entire region of the world, throwing the citizens of the world into jeopardy for decades to come.
So I said to the guy as I was driving off that his gas cost more than $2.67, it cost $2.67 and 1800 lives, and he has no one but George W to thank for his high priced fuel. (Which by the way he was more than able to afford as opposed to WCG). Where is the outrage? We just saw an entire community in Ohio who lost 20+ citizen soldiers from the same Marine reserve unit in the same town! Can it be that George has so perfectly massaged the economy and interest rates, that so long as the bottom line doesn't affect "me" the outrage is held in check? Can there be any other answer for the complacency regarding the slaughter of our precious troops so far from home for a cause less worthy than probably Vietnam? At least there we were engaged in the "Cold War" the idea though debunked now, seemed to hold merit at the time, that we needed to stem the tide of Soviet expansionism. What the hell are we stemming here? We're creating more terrorists, we've thrown the middle east into utter turmoil and we fattening the pockets of huge American corporations that make their money on war...oil companies, and defense contractors....yet we're not pissed off. I am. This is a joke.
Where are the all the sons and daughters of the record number of Republican voters from this past election? Why are we not meeting recruiting goals when so many of Americans (50million) demonstrated their support of "W's" vision at the polls? Surely there must be enough sons and daughters of the fervent "W" machine to fill the humvee's and Marine foot soldier positions. George better hope this economy that is based on inflated real estate and consumer incentives (see Ford and GM buyer incentives) can hold out until the end of his miserable blood letting term. If not, the mall of the Washington Monument will be filled with more than tourists...we'll have protesters finally calling attention to our miserably failing policies and horrible leadership.
36 comments:
great post. yes, where exactly are all the sons and daughters of Repubs who voted for Bush and support this war? They're off getting degrees and playing beer pong, while the real heroes are over in Iraq.
I have yet to meet a tourist coming to Belize that will admit to voting for Bush.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting in my blog. If you're coming my way, drop me an email
I supported neither candidate in our last election, of course I supported neither candidate in the previous election either. When was the last time I supported any candidate for anything? Can't remember.I have no respect for our last 2 presidents. I never support any war. I always support and pray for our troops. I really don't think I've ever loved this country enough to lay down my life for it. Maybe I would for my people, but never for my government.
War is never good, but we are removing a dictator and fostering democracy that we breed hostility toward terrorists. We have paid a small price (just over 1800 live lost.) All casualties are bad, but this is the smallest amount by far of any major war, and we have been at it for a while now.
Regarding gas prices: Bush has nothing to do with them. The fact is that oil is a natural resource, and we are running short on it. Obviously the price is going to rise as the oil supply runs low. In fact, the US has cheaper prices than anywhere else. In England, for example, it costs the US equivalent of about $6 a gallon on average. Bush isn't president there, so you won't be able to explain that...
Website X: A Common-Sense Look at the Issues
Airraid81, your young age is evidenced by your simplistic and naive views. For you to claim that 1800 lives is a "small price" to pay reflects your ignorance on the value of any american serviceman. Just one life lost on a failed policy of lies and misrepresentations is one too many. You are correct gas is expensive in England, but you must put the economic cost into perspective. The UK is a relatively small country that has a vast public transportation system, whereas the US's economy is primarily reliant on the interstate system and the autombile and trucks that ride them. Not to mention the UK has not a 1/4 of the buying nor demand capacity of fossil fuel as the US has...so your point is inherently flawed. You are correct Bush has nothing directly to do with the prices of gas in the US, but if you think the fact that oil is selling for $60.00 a barrel and there is a war in the middle east are not connected you are not enlightened.
Though your points are not agreed with here on PinF, they are respected. I do wonder though when you will be joining the forces to possibly help us quell the terrorists? The fact remains: Bush has consistently changed the reasons we are spilling blood...none of which has increasingly quelled the murmur of mistrust brewing in this country.
PinF, about time you dispensed with the fluff pieces and got down to business!
Gas in Holland is around $5.50 or more a gallon. Not quite as bad as England but still considerably more than the US. What's different is in both the UK and NL I believe about 80% of the cost is tax. I don't know what it is in the US but I have a number in my head of around 25% (which could be completely off).
I wouldn't object to paying more at the pump in the US if I knew that most!, a lot..., some? of my money was going to something worthwhile. Maybe higher prices will help to educate people about not being so wasteful? Probably not, but at least we have something to b-itch about...
On the other hand as PinF so correctly points out, the US is reliant on gas/oil for our trucking system which hauls just about everything all over the country and given our geographic size is a considerable expense.
One of my gripes has always been why are they not building cars that get better gas mileage? I don't care if its a V8 or not! I had an old 79 K5 blazer got 11 mpg. Any of these new SUVs only get around 15. You mean to tell me with all the advances (maybe only to HP!) in 25 years, 4 mpg is the best improvement we can come up with?
Taking that a step further, the amount of research done on solar or wind energy or "hybrid" style cars is pathetic for a country like the US. That I can only attribute to a lack of direction from our leaders, which I in turn blame on the fact that there must be too many people with vested interests in the status quo. IE- to much $$$$ to be made in oil.
Isn't W an oil man?
Chuck, you points are well recieved here at PinF, hence my suggestion you consider the Geo Tracker before spewing those horriffic emissions, not to mention 2.1 MPG in your Euro Assault vehicle-- in one of the most pristine places in the world. Touche.
Believe it or not, the Pinz gets 15 mpg (it's a very light vehicle) and is over 25 years old!!!!
Parry.
I revere all those who chose to join the defense forces. I don't have their courage or bravery, and I would never join them. For them to sacrifice their lives for our security, they are real heros. When they put that uniform on, they know they are risking their lives, yet they still do so. The point is they know that they might go to war, and they agreed to do it. What's the point of having an army if we never use it?
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As usual MofC is not going down without his customary "post-up" move...which I might add is formidible in it's own right.
Chuck you win. Come to CR bring the slovenly Pinz...truck people around in the jungle...I'll be at La Playa Negra, chilling like I am apt to do, with a cold cerveza awaiting the tales of your "mis"- fortunate tourists as they complain about how they broke down, and there was no parts to repair the Pinz--- and how they had to be relegated to local taxis. Something that if you've ever been to a third world country is an "adventure" in itself.........
If you think my post-up is good, you should see my left-hand-dribble-drive.
If you are at La Playa, would you be willing to drive the "support vehicle"? And if not, would you mine keeping a cerveza on ice for me, I expect to be a bit tired after my 127 mile hike out of the jungle....
AIRRAID81...Using your Army prudently and wisely is the most important factor involved in commiting young men and women's lives. Remember "W" chose to snort coke and smoke weed when he could have been doing the right and honorable thing and serving his country..So it's a tough pill to swallow seeing 18, and 20 year old kids dying for what?
The point-- and the responsibility of being the most powerful nation on earth is to show your power by example. We have killed, and maimed over 100,000 Iraqi's, yet I feel less safer as an American because we have united every single fundamentalist, brainwashed, disenfranchised angry Muslim youth in the world. So what example have we shown the world by invading a powerless, non threatening country other than it's ok to blow up subways, buses and to kill innocent men, women and children.
If you're gonna talk the talk of war...then you'd better be ready to walk the walk. Because of your age, it'll be your ass eating those words after you're drafted and the tracers are flying over your head in Fallujah. Think about it? What have we accomplished other than spending more money (100Billion) than we've ever spent on an "worthy" cause ever in the history of mankind...open your mind...you are the futre generation, ask more of your leaders than blood, death and war.
I believe in a strong military too and using might when it is necessary--- but this wasn't. Afghanistan was...this is all wrong. We will be paying for this years after "W" is chilling and raking in millions for his memoirs in Crawford.
Wow, PIF, you really overestimated the number of civilian casualties in Iraq. According to antiwar.com/casualties, which in and of itself is a biased site, "At least 5,000 civilians may have been killed during the invasion of Iraq, an independent research group has claimed. As more evidence is collated, it says, the figure could reach 10,000." 100,000 is a huge differance from 10,000. I wonder how many would have died had Saddam been in power? A lot more, and the killings would be continuous and not just for the years that it takes to stabilize the country.
This is a war worth fighting, because we are killing terrorists. These "insurgents" are the same people streaming over the borders of other freedom hating countries and blowing up roadside bombs, suicide bombing mosques, and beheading people. It will be hard to stabilize the country, but when it is done and the Iraqis have control, that will be one more country in the fight against terrorism and one more victory over terror. So far, since 9/11, we have had no terrorist attacks on our borders, so our foreign policy has been working. (We just need to close our borders. No politician will take up that issue, though, even though many might support it, because it would turn hispanics and probably most blacks against them.) Some people said that we hadn't been doing a good job just because London was attacked, but we aren't protecting London. It's a different nation with different leadership and a different situation. We can't control what happens there.
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Hey, I just noticed that you said something about a draft. There is absolutly no evidence that there will be a draft. Just because a few liberals started that rumor a few years ago to scare us, doesn't make it so.
AIRRAID81---keep smoking that stuff and you might start believing all the lies your young mind has been fed.
What lies? You lied about the death count. A number of acredited websites have it around 10,000. I haven't seen any that have it much higher. Where did you get your info?
And like I said, there will be no draft. We don't even need a draft at this point, because we have enough forces. The amount will be dying down anyway, because we have given control to the Iraqis and it is just a matter of time before they can handle the country by themselves.
Even if Bush tried to implement a draft, he would probably be impeached on the spot. After Vietnam, there won't be a draft again for a very long time.
http://www.iraqbodycount.net/
http://www.mykeru.com/bodycount.html#iraqi
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/LAN410A.html
My patience runs short with you youngster. Bottom line civilians alone is over 20k(23-25k), British study (See Lancet Report) puts it over 100,000 total deaths, (civilian, military).
Bottom line AIRRAID81 is this...lets say we believe the UN commision on Human Rights report that Sadaam killed 300,000 of his own people during his reign is correct...divide this by 37 years and you get 8100 death per anum avg. Now lets say we take the conservative number killed of 25,000.*****(civilians only mind you, not even taking into account the bathist defenders killed, nor the civilians killed by Iraqi IED's)****. That in 30 months since we "liberated" Iraq....that would give us, the great "liberators" a kill rate of 9,996 Iraqi's per anum...now I ask you what have we done for the Iraqi people that is any better than waht Sadaam did? in reality there were a 1000 less Iraqi's dying per year dying under Sadaam's rule. So let's give it a rest, you believe in this mess, then good for you. I have seen more war's of waste in my life than you have, and time will decide this-- not rhetoric. Then we'll all see the emperor had no clothes on.....
Once again, you are lying. I went to iraqbodycount.com, and on the front page, there was a big graphic with this writing,
"Civilians reported killed by military intervention in Iraq
Min
Max
23456
26559"
Go to the website or click here
Exactly "civialians"..doesn't take into account the military nor does it take into account roadside, and bazaar bombing...read the lancet report. You're truly brainwashed so it matters little....still the numbers dont lie 25k in 30 months in 9k we are killing a year alone....pretty sad that the most "compassionate, powerful nation on earth is doing this to these people....
Roadside bombs are done by terrorists, not Americans. The military casualties are not Iraqi civilians. They are the same insurgents who suicide bomb mosques and behead civilians. Do you really care if they die.
I see you said that it is pretty sad what we are doing to them. Yes, I too, think it is an outrage that we got rid of an opressive dictator and gave them freedom and democracy.
Now, I see what you say about the Lancet Report. The Lancet Report states, "We estimate that there were 98,000 extra deaths (95% CI 8,000-194,000) during the postwar period." 8,000-194,000? How about making a real report, not one that any dumbass could pull out of their ass. Those numbers really help pinpoint a total.
fucknuts--- PinF is right...roadside bombs wouldn't be occuring if the Americans hadn't created the mess they had...stick to comic books boy....
Whoa---jeez one little blog about gas prices and I've got airraid boy and marine guy getting way too into this....whatever. Airraid you need to travel, see the world, see some suffering and get off the internet, then...maybe then your lonely voice on PinF would find a home...as I see no one else but you believes the Texecutioner's spin on what he's done to this country but you...please we need boys like you in the military...one's who follow blidly and ask no questions of their government.
Keep reading reports by groups like Lancet that have a 186,000 casualty margin or error.
This Blog Sucks, War has solved many probloms, your all to fat and liberalish to understand that. Your all just too mad over the fact that your hero lost to goerge bush. So get a life.
Well well...the fact that Alfred E. Neuman has graced this blog has made this all worth it....that's got to be one of the funniest photos I've ever seen!!!! Richie Neuman...by the way young man.."probloms" is spelled problems, and "goerge bush" well that's spelled first with capitals and secondly as "George" so that's "E" before the "O"....your an awfully funny looking little shit though...thanks for the laughs....you must be real popular in school eh? Hahahah.....You made this all worth it, just to see that hideous photo!!!!
I am glad you commented and that I found your blog.
I enjoyed your post. Here in Indiana, we average about the same for unleaded gas, like $2.65/gal. In pre-Bush days, we were used to about $1.40+-/gal. The people around here can't afford it, and as a result, our local crime stats are going up. Maybe it is the beginning of the erosion of the middle class. Cost of living is not adjusting accordingly.
It is sad about what is going on in Iraq. Some of my friends are over there (either Iraq, Kuwait or in that general region). I agree that they signed up to fight and defend our country, but I don't think they signed up for this.
Our military men have little control over the missions they are in and put a lot of faith in their commanding officers (including the President) to make smart choices. I think Bush dropped the ball big time and disappointed a lot of them. Many of my friends have told me that they can't believe what a waste it is.
I wish I could do something to change what is going on, but I think I am part of the problem because I don't.
Now there's a sane voice of reason in a sea of confusion. Big up to you Natalia....you are doing something by even questioning this foolish leadership we have. Meanwhile I got to argue with the geek squad in Ohio, they're more experienced at fighting pimples than they are politics....you go girl.
Fuck You You Damn Hippie Liberal.
son of frankenstein has spoken....I'm telling your mommy...she's not gonna let you have your x-box......really Clearasil kid, relax there's a whole lifetime to be an uptight, over-reactive, conserative little pudgy guy...you are only 15. Run along and watch Nickelodeon...hahahahahh
Thiele,
4915 Lee Rd
Geneseo, NY 14454-9527
(585) 243-xxxx
Anymore posts like that chubby, and we'll be calling your parents.
Hahahahah. I don't even know what to say PinF?
I can't wait for the next "political" post!
All I know is i'm sticking to comedy......later.
He obviously doesn't know I'm in law enforcement Chuck, I'm looking over his school records, seems he had some trouble with algebra last year....
Hey I have an idea, on Monday write a blog about homosexuality and Wednesday write one about gun control.
By Friday you will have 1/2 of the U.S. upset with you....
Don't forget my personal favorite cocktail party discussion: abortion.
Think Richie T. Thiele has an opinion on abortion?
Sry fior my actions and i appoligize
ok Rich...welcome back. If we can maintain Civility ie: controlling language then you're welcome to join in here at PinF..
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